









* 



































• 




























. 





































. I -«T- 

' . 




































■V 
















































































































. ’ ll'* 




/ 





















. m ■ > 

" ■ • ; ' - 

, * - S 

. ■ ■” r 

. > - . * 






. > - . 

* 

■V ** >- I 








r 

- 
















« 














• - . 1 

. 

. 

***** / mill B A* 






































































































































































































“NOTHING TO EAT BUT FOOD” 


BY 


JOHN H. STYLES, Jr., D.O. 



Published 

WILLIAMS PUBLISHING COMPANY 

Kansas Cat;?, Missouri 




•S^3 


COPYRIGHT, 1923 
By R. H. Williams 
Kansas City, Mo. 


DEC 26 "23 


Cl A 7 6546 4 


J 


*4, , kk t 





















































































- 

. 



















































































- 














































Contents 


FOREWORD.F v P. Millard, D. 0. 

PREFACE 
PART I. 

CHAPTER I. 

Pages. 

Introduction _10-15 

CHAPTER II. 

Food .,..16-27 

CHAPTER III. 

Nutrition .....28-34 

CHAPTER IV. 

Food Values...35-42 

CHAPTER V. 

The Caloric Value of Foods.43-50 

CHAPTER VI. 

Constipation ...-....51-58 

CHAPTER VII. 

Overweight _ 59-66 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Underweight __ ,..67-73 

CHAPTER IX. 

Vegetarianism ..-____74-81 

CHAPTER X 

Meat Eating ... 82-89 

CHAPTER XI. 

Fasting __-.-90-96 



























CHAPTER XII. 


Pages. 

Exercise ........97-104 


CHAPTER XIII 

How to Reduce . 105-114 

CHAPTER XIV. 

How to Gain...-...115-122 

CHAPTER XV. 

The Maintenance Diet ___.123-129 

CHAPTER XVI. 

General Dietary Conclusions ..130-137 


PART II. 


CHAPTER I. 

Measurements and Weights. 138-143 

CHAPTER II. 

Suggested Menus ... 144-201 

CHAPTER III. 

Recipes . 202-233 














Foreword 


Foreword 


At last we have a book written by one who 
knows whereof he speaks. For years, men have 
been trying to write on the subject of diet, fast¬ 
ing, reduction of weight and kindred subjects, 
and when you finished reading any of those 
books you were just at the same place you 
started. 

In a clear, concise, logical and instructive 
manner, Dr. Styles has written on the subject, 
“NOTHING TO EAT BUT FOOD,” and has 
presented it in a way that is comprehensive and 
practical in every respect. Step by step, he 
leads you from the basic foundation principles 
up to the dizzy heights of structural integrity, 
and you feel, when you have reached this height, 
that each stone in the pyramid was well-laid and 
will last throughout the ages. From the top of 
this summit of understanding, upon which the 
searchlight of truth is shedding its rays to 
humanity the world over, you realize for once 
in your lifetime that you know absolutely what 
to eat, what not to eat, and how to regulate your 
weight and strength in a scientific manner, and 
that it has been worked out by one who under¬ 
stands. 



Foreword 


This is the first time the subject has been 
presented in an intelligent and concise manner. 
All through the long list of chemical reasonings, 
physiology has been uppermost in the mind of 
the author, and physiological chemistry has been 
adhered to in a way that is reasonable and 
workable. 

Those who follow the teachings and guidings 
of Dr. Styles, as presented in this book, need 
have no excuse, from a dietetic standpoint, of 
being over-fed or under-fed, in any respect. 

We are indebted to Dr. Styles, in a way that 
we can hardly express, for the painstaking 
methods and outlines that he has followed. He 
has given to the profession, as well as to the laity, 
a wealth of material heretofore spectacular and 
kaleidoscopic only. I refer to those writers who 
have heretofore attempted to classify in one 
volume physiology, chemistry, dietetics, and the 
art of how to live. 

Dr. Styles has presented for the first time 
all of these relative facts in a systematic and 
masterful manner. 


F. P. MILLARD, D. 0. 


Toronto, Canada. 



Preface 


Preface 

When Ben King wrote THE PESSIMIST he 
penned a masterpiece of subtle satire. There 
is a delicious something about the rhyme that 
appeals mightily to the average reader. And, 
for all their apparent nonsense, a vast amount 
of common sense is written into its verses. Many 
of its phrases are literally pregnant with mean¬ 
ing. The classic “nothing to eat but food” is 
most fraught with significance, for it is an 
axiomatic expression of essential truth. 

The human animal, no matter what his 
physical and economic status, has “nothing to 
eat but food.” The same classes of nutritive 
elements are provided by nature for the suste¬ 
nance of all. Sick or well, thin or fat, humankind 
depends upon a very small number of funda¬ 
mental foodstuffs. 

However, although the variety of elemental 
raw materials is thus sharply restricted, the 
“what,” “why” and “how much” of individual 
dietaries is not so easily determined. And there¬ 
by hangs this tale. 

It has also become quite the thing of late for 
the great and near-great (corporeally as well as 
socially and intellectually speaking) to record 
their quests for gastronomic self-control for the 
edification and delight of all who may care to 




Preface 


read. I have perused with much pleasure and 
not a little profit the delightful accounts of such 
noteworthy reductions as those of Irvin Cobb, 
Nina Wilcox Putnam, Vance Thompson and Dr. 
Lulu Hunt Peters. And now that I, too, have 
vanquished redundancy to the point of a perfect 
“figger” and painlessly relegated three score 
pounds of adiposity to the “limbo of forgotten 
things,” I have ventured to add my modest con¬ 
tribution to this growing bibliography. 

This volume represents a most careful and 
entirely authoritative resume' of didactic and 
clinical facts elicited by an extensive study of 
nutritional problems and very conclusively 
proven true in a series of over eight thousand 
cases conducted by and including myself. 

Its motif is WEIGHT-CONTROL. It was 
written for physicians and lay folk who desire 
a non-technical but strictly scientific outline of 
dietetic methods for the treatment of obesity 
and its equally dangerous antithesis. 

For the sake of convenience I have divided 
the book into two parts. PART I deals with 
principles and practice; PART II with sugges¬ 
tive menus and representative recipes. 

“NOTHING TO EAT BUT FOOD” is in no 
sense a text-book on dietetics. Nor is it a cook¬ 
book. It is simply an account of how weight 



Preface 


may be added or taken away in a thoroughly 
rational manner by proper eating. The chapters 
are short and, it is to be hoped, readable. 

Relevant bibliography has been convenient¬ 
ly indicated at the conclusion of each chapter. 

JOHN H. STYLES, JR., D. 0. 

Kansas City, Missouri. 

October, 1923. 



10 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER I. 

Introduction 

The problems of nutrition are the problems 
of life. Foods are the fodder and fuel of the 
human machine. They are the source of all 
physiologic energy and biologic repair. 

It is extremely important, therefore, that 
men and women should know what to eat, and 
why; and that they should be vouchsafed an 
ability to determine with comparative accuracy 
their individual dietetic needs and clearly to 
discern between beneficial and harmful food¬ 
stuffs. 

Such knowledge implies at least a speaking 
acquaintance with the composition of foods, 
some familiarity with the habits of the organs 
that digest them and by which they are trans¬ 
muted into the stuff of which living tissues are 
made, an apprehension of their ultimate fate 
and an appreciation of their effects upon the 
body. 

Human society is roughly divided by gravity. 
There are two great classes of individuals, over¬ 
weights and underweights. Few and happy in¬ 
deed are those men and women who have achiev¬ 
ed the golden mean of normality in this regard. 

Normal weight is not a fatuous will-o’-the- 



Introduction 


11 


wisp, as many believe. It is a physical state well 
within the reach of any human being who will 
devote a modicum of serious thought to the mat¬ 
ter of his individual dietetic requirements and 
who will intelligently approach and solve the 
problems of his own nutrition. 

Food is composed of just six essential 
elements: proteins, sugars, starches, fats, min¬ 
eral matter and water. All articles of diet are 
composed of one or more of these primordials. 
Therefore, since there is absolutely nothing to 
eat but food, and since normal weight demands 
that food shall be taken in balanced rations, 
properly proportioned and nicely calculated to 
supply body requirements, the problems of the 
individual diet designed to achieve such normal¬ 
ity may be succinctly stated thus: “How much?” 

This is a day of food faddists. Irresponsible 
alimentic cranks of every sort and description 
are abroad in the land, preaching their peculiar 
dietaries and assiduously striving to convert 
society to unsound and oftentimes ridiculous 
habits of eating. 

Such questionable activities are especially 
manifest in the realm of weight-control. This 
branch of nutritional science is literally overrun 
with innumerable dietetic panaceas and cure-alls 
for obesity and underweight. Some of these 



12 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


formularies, many of which are sponsored by 
individuals who have not the slightest conception 
of physiology and biology, embody scientific 
principles and are of value in selected cases. 
Generally speaking, however, they are for the 
most part but half-baked theories which fail 
utterly to accomplish the ends they were de¬ 
signed to subserve because they neglect to 
take into consideration the essential fact that 
each human body is a separate biologic entity 
and a law unto itself so far as its peculiar 
alimentary needs are concerned. For it is a fact 
that although human organisms, collectively, are 
under the jurisdiction and control of a common 
natural dietetic code, each possesses, in addition 
thereto, an individual set of nutritional “by¬ 
laws” which it must likewise obey to be healthy 
and normal. 

It is not possible, therefore, to set down any 
but general rules of diet for weight-control. But 
if these natural provisions are intelligently ap¬ 
prehended and applied in the light of individual 
requirements, the average body will promptly 
respond to them and restore normal weight by 
the re-establishment of proper functioning in all 
of its parts. For when physical fitness obtains, 
physiological function follows. 

Recent exhaustive investigations in the lab¬ 
oratory and clinic have proven conclusively that 



Introduction 


13 


a normal, mixed diet is best adapted to the needs 
of the average human animal. That is to say: 
the daily intake of nutritive elements must in¬ 
clude all essential food substances, properly 
apportioned to meet the requirements of the 
body. 

From this it may logically be concluded that a 
gain or loss of weight may easily be achieved by 
arranging the individual dietary so that it will 
include just the requisite quantity of each 
alimental element; and that, once the desired 
figure has been attained, it may be retained in¬ 
definitely by adhering to a proper maintenance 
diet. 

Weight-control is largely a matter of self- 
control. To those roly-poly folk who live to eat 
and unmistakably manifest their chief aim in life 
by too much fat in too many places, it means, 
at the outset at least, a rigorous denial of in¬ 
ordinate appetites. And to those lean and 
saturnine individuals who simply eat to live, it 
means positive self-discipline in the matter of 
acquiring a liking for the right sorts of food. 

Furthermore, dietetic excesses and insuffi- 
ciences often cause disease. Indeed, a number 
of late clinical and laboratory studies in nutri¬ 
tion have thoroughly demonstrated the unten- 
ability of many popular notions anent the 



14 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


etiology of disease and shown them to be widely 
at variance with actual scientific facts. This is 
not to say that all common diseases are dietetic 
in origin, for a great number of other factors 
may likewise obtain. But it is to point out that 
a considerable variety of common ailments may 
be primarily due to faulty diet. 

It will readily be appreciated that a work of 
this sort cannot encompass the whole realm of 
nutrition. It is concerned with but one phase 
of that science: rational weight-control. There¬ 
fore only those alimentic problems which are 
directly concerned with its subject have been 
considered and discussed. 

Unnecessary detail has been avoided deliber¬ 
ately, for it does not require much space to set 
down what is essential to know about foods and 
their proper selection for the purpose of achiev¬ 
ing normal weight and subsequent maintenance 
at par. 

The writer’s most difficult task has been to 
point out clearly the dangers of atavistic and 
slovenly habits of thinking in this regard and 
to set down without cant the physical advantages 
of right eating. But extensive practical experi¬ 
ence has shown that men and women will change 
their harmful dietetic practices once they under¬ 
stand fully the urgent reasons for so doing. And 



Introduction 


15 


with that thought in mind the more salient of 
those reasons have been faithfully detailed 
herein. 

There is no possible controverting the fact 
that both overweight and underweight are un¬ 
desirable physical states and positively inimical 
to health. One has only to contemplate the un¬ 
friendly attitude of life insurance companies 
toward individuals of either class to be 
thoroughly convinced. 

Watch your weight! Out of it are the issues 
of life—and death. Proportionate bulk is as 
essential to proper functioning in the body 
machine as in any other. Too much or too little 
weight disturbs the mechanical co-ordination 
of skeletal structures and encourages countless 
functional perversions. Therefore, WATCH 
YOUR WEIGHT and be normal, healthy and 
happy. 



16 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER II. 

Food 

The vegetative activities of nature are per¬ 
petual and require a constant supply of energy 
and of building material with which to repair the 
wear and tear incident to them. It is nowhere 
more essential that this supply should be proper¬ 
ly gauged than in human nutrition. For the 
human body is an intricate machine; a highly 
specialized and delicately adjusted natural 
mechanism. It is eternally active; and apart 
from all conscious physical and mental labor an 
immense amount of exertion is required simply 
to keep it alive. 

Human food, therefore, its composition, prep¬ 
aration, effects on the tissues of the body and 
adequate rationing for individual needs and re¬ 
quirements, should constitute a subject of sur¬ 
passing interest to all men and women; for a 
working knowledge of it is vital to life and 
health. Especially is this the case when weight- 
control is at stake. For only by knowing what 
foods and how much of them to take can any in¬ 
dividual attain normal physical bulk. 

The science of feeding is concerned with the 
elemental issues of life. Only by most thorough¬ 
ly understanding the properties of foodstuffs, by 
what means the necessary nutritive substances 



Food 


17 


are best supplied and prepared, and by intelli¬ 
gently apprehending their precise indications in 
individual cases can proper physical proportions 
be achieved and maintained. 

Food. 

Food may be defined as any substance 
which, when taken into the body, yields an 
essential element or elements from which energy 
may be derived or by which waste may be re¬ 
paired. 

Each natural kingdom, vegetable, animal and 
mineral, contributes its quota of foodstuffs for 
human sustentation: and these raw materials 
occur in various physical forms. They may be 
gases, liquids or solids. 

In addition thereto there are a number of 
non-nutritive substances which should be in¬ 
cluded in every well-balanced diet. These 
articles contribute nothing to physical energy 
or repair but are taken to flavor otherwise 
tasteless foods, to stimulate active secretion of 
digestive juices or to increase the appetite. 
Beverages and condiments belong to this latter 
class. 

Foods, to be nutritious, must contain, in 
available form, the same elements which com¬ 
pose the tissues of the body. Of these nitrogen, 
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen are most import¬ 
ant, for they are the major chemical constituents 



18 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


of those tissues. Calcium, magnesium, potas¬ 
sium, sodium, sulphur, chlorin, iron, phosphorus 
and iodin are also consequential components. 

No single food or class of foods contains all 
of these primordials in proper proportions for 
all individuals. It is only by combining them in 
suitable dietaries that adequate nutrition is 
achieved. Futhermore, it is absolutely essential 
that they be available in assimilable form. 

Fundamental foodstuffs are ordinarily class¬ 
ified as proteins, fats, carbohydrates (sugars 
and starches), mineral matter (salts) and water. 
They may also be grouped according to source, 
chemical composition, and function. 

Classification of Foods 
Classification According to Source. 

Animal 

Vegetable 

Mineral (including oxygen) 

Classification According to Chemical Composition. 



Carbohydrates 


Fats 



Mineral Matter 


INORGANIC 


Water 



Food 


19 


Classification According to Function. 


TISSUE BUILDERS AND f £F° teins 
BODY REPAIRERS I Water 

l Mineral Matter 


HEAT, ENERGY AND 
WORK PRODUCERS 


f Fats 

-s Carbohydrates 
L Proteins 


PHYSIOLOGIC REGULATORS 


f Mineral Matter 
L Water 


Sources of Foods and Their Functions 

Following are the more important sources 
from which essential foods are derived: 

PROTEINS: Milk, eggs, meat, fish, cheese, 
leguminous vegetables (beans, peas, lentils, etc.), 
cereals and some nuts. 

CARBOHYDRATES: Starchy vegetables, 
sago, tapioca, sugar, honey and fresh or dried 
sweet fruits. 

FAT: Butter, cream, fat meat, nuts, vege¬ 
table and animal oils. 

MINERAL MATTER: Milk, cream, eggs, 
meat, whole grains, oatmeal, peas, beans, spinach, 
raisins, prunes, oranges, turnips and other fresh 
fruits and vegetables. The use of common salt 
(sodium chloride) as a condiment usually sup¬ 
plies sufficient sodium and chlorin. 



20 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Nitrogen is a most important food principle. 
Without it life cannot be maintained. It is sup¬ 
plied to the body in combination with carbon, 
hydrogen, oxygen, sulphur and sometimes phos¬ 
phorus by the so-called protein foodstuffs. From 
no other source can this fundamental element be 
obtained in a form which the body can use. 

The proteins of diet are both animal and vege¬ 
table in origin. Their principal animal sources 
are meats, fish, eggs and milk. Vegetable pro¬ 
teins are obtained from the legumes (peas, beans, 
lentils, peanuts, etc.), certain nuts (cocoa beans, 
pine nuts, almonds), and whole grains such as 
hard wheat, oats, maize, rye and barley. 

Nitrogenous animal foods require less cook¬ 
ing, less mastication and are more easily digested 
than vegetable proteins. The nutritive qualities 
of the latter are less available because of their 
roughage (cellulose) content, which to a certain 
extent protects them from digestion and 
absorption. 

Non-nitrogenous foods include the carbohy¬ 
drates (starches and sugars) and fats. The 
former contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, 
with the latter elements usually combined in the 
form of the water molecule (H 0). 

A carbohydrate, therefore, may be defined as 
a simple sugar or any substance which will yield 
a simple sugar when some of its water molecules 
are abstracted by chemical or physical means. 



Food 


21 


Carbohydrates are derived almost exclusively 
from the vegetable world, with the exceptions of 
glycogen and milk sugar, which are of animal 
origin. They are plentiful in grains, roots, tu¬ 
bers, etc. 

Carbohydrates are oxidized (burned up) 
within the body to produce energy and heat. 
When taken in excess of immediate body needs 
they are stored up, first as glycogen in the liver 
and muscles; and, when the resources of those 
repositories are exhausted, in the interstitial 
structures as FAT. 

Fats have the same ultimate chemical com¬ 
position as carbohydrates in that they contain 
carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. The latter ele¬ 
ment, however, is present in less proportion than 
in carbohydrates. 

True fats are chemical compounds of fatty 
acids and glycerine and they differ according to 
the type of fatty acid which they contain. Chief 
among these latter substances are stearic, pal¬ 
mitic and oleic acids. Of their glycerated com¬ 
pounds, the stearins and palmitins are solid and 
the oleins fluid at ordinary temperatures. 

Stearin is found only in animal fats and 
always occurs in combination with the other two 
substances. Vegetable fats, on the other hand, 
contain only the palmitins and oleins. 



22 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


In addition to the true fats a pseudo-fat, 
called lecithin, is usually classed with them. 
Lecithin contains phosphorus as well as fatty 
acid. It is a necessary constituent of living cells 
and is especially plentiful in the nervous tissues. 
It is derived from egg yolks and fresh brain 
substance. 

Certain volatile oils are utilized in diet for 
flavoring. They do not resemble true fats and 
vary considerably among themselves in composi¬ 
tion. They are not in any sense essential foods 
but more properly belong to the condiment class. 

Fats in diet are derived from milk, olive oil, 
meat fat and oily nuts. They are oxidized 
(burned up) in the body to produce work and 
heat. Their chief uses, therefore, are to fur¬ 
nish heat and to supply energy. In addition, 
they serve as a protective covering for the body, 
give shapeliness to the form, lessen tissue dis¬ 
integration and store reserve energy. 

Twenty per cent of the normal body weight 
is fat. This fat is derived almost entirely from 
fatty foods and carbohydrates. Proteins are 
not transformed into fat except to a very slight 
degree. 

Fat and carbohydrates serve precisely the 
same purpose in body economy. They are fuel 
foods and furnish energy. The former are not 
nearly so easily digested as the latter but they 



Food 


23 


supply over twice as much energy, weight for 
weight. 

Water is a chemical combination of hydrogen 
and oxygen, in the proportions of two parts of 
the former to one of the latter by volume. Simple 
water is tasteless, odorless and has no color. 
Owing to its universal solvent power, however, 
it is not found pure in nature, but is flavored by 
the mineral and organic matter which it holds in 
solution. 

Water is present in practically all foodstuffs. 
In green vegetables and fresh fruits it comprises 
as much as 85% to 95% of their bulk. The sub¬ 
stance of starchy vegetables is as much as 75% 
water. Other foods contain it in varying propor¬ 
tions. 

Sixty per cent, by weight, of the human body 
is water. Considerable quantities of this essen¬ 
tial fluid are lost daily through the excretory 
activities of the kidneys, lungs and skin, and 
therefore water must be taken as a beverage 
also, for other articles of diet do not contain it 
in sufficient quantities to meet the needs of 
proper nutrition. 

Water undergoes no chemical change in the 
body. It serves as a solvent in digestion, tissue 
nutrition and excretion. And inasmuch as it 
suffers no structural alteration within the body, 



24 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


it should be considered as an accessory to the 
chemical changes of digestion and metabolism 
and as a universal vehicle within which these 
activities are carried on. 

Water enters into the chemical combination 
of the tissues. It is the chief ingredient of all 
body fluids and maintains them in a proper state 
of dilution. It prevents friction by moistening 
the various surfaces of the body. It is a dis¬ 
tributor of body heat and regulates the tempera¬ 
ture of the organism by the physical processes of 
absorption and evaporation. 

The uses of mineral matter in body metabol¬ 
ism are varied and interesting. Solidity is im¬ 
parted by it to the skeletal tissues. It is a con¬ 
stituent of blood and lymph. Indeed, small 
quantities of it are to be found in every living 
cell and their health depends upon its presence. 

Certain calcium and magesium salts are the 
chief compounds of bone and teeth. They are 
also to be found in the vital body fluids together 
with sodium chloride. The organic salts of 
phosphorus, iron and sulphur are always present 
in normal living cells. Considerable quantities 
of iodin are to be found in the substance of the 
thyroid gland and nearly all tissues contain some 
sulphur in protein form. 

The human body is approximately six per 
cent mineral by weight. Sufficient quantities 



Food 


25 


of these essential earthy substances are present 
in ordinary articles of diet with the exception 
of sodium chloride (common salt). The use of 
the latter as a condiment supplies this deficiency. 

Animal foods contain the same minerals as 
are found in the human tissues. Cow’s milk is 
rich in calcium and phosphorus and it furnishes 
some sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron and 
chlorin as well. Eggs provide iron and phos¬ 
phorus. 

Vegetable foods contain potassium, iron and 
calcium. The so-called vegetable acids are usu¬ 
ally included with minerals, although they have 
an organic origin. They are found in juicy 
fruits, as the citric acid of oranges, lemons and 
grapefruit, tartartic acid of grapes and the malic 
acid of apples and pears. In the body they be¬ 
come quickly changed into essential carbonates 
and in that form materially assist in maintain¬ 
ing the normal alkaline reaction of the blood. 

Vitamines must also be considered in this 
connection. These vital substances are normally 
present in small quantities in almost all foods. 
They are essential to life, normal vigor and 
proper weight. 

Of late this group of dietetic fundamentals 
has achieved considerable unwarranted noto¬ 
riety as the result of the propagandic activities 



26 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


of a certain coterie of advertising commercialists. 
Yeast preparations of every sort and description 
have been dumped upon the market and clothed 
with the most marvelous and impossible prop¬ 
erties. But as a matter of fact, and to speak 
the sober truth, such proprietary substances 
have but a modicum of dietetic value. Their 
alimentic usefulness has been very greatly 
overestimated. 

Necessary vitamines, whether A, B, C or X, 
are much more easily and cheaply obtained from 
natural foods taken in balanced rations. Yeast 
has no corner on the vitamine supply. It may, 
perchance, have some dietetic value, but its 
significance in nutrition has been very greatly 
exaggerated by commercial exploitation. For, 
while the so-called vitamine concentrates may 
have a proper place in the feeding of an under¬ 
fed or malnourished individual, a normal, 
healthy human being does not require them nor 
does he profit one iota from their ingestion. 

Condiments are used to flavor tasteless foods 
and make them palatable. But they are not 
foods for they have little or no specific effect 
upon the functions of the body. The most com¬ 
mon class of these dietetic adjuncts comprises 
those sauces which are added to food while it is 
being eaten. Spices and flavoring extracts are 
also extensively used. The ordinary table con¬ 
diments include salt, pepper and vinegar. 



Food 


27 


Such gastronomic accessories are useful only 
for their mild stimulating effect upon the tissues 
with which they come in contact. They are not 
required by normal appetites, however, and be¬ 
cause of their irritant qualities should be taken 
with caution. 

Liquids, such as milk, cocoa, chocolate, coffee, 
tea, lemonade and all aerated and carbonated 
drinks belong to the beverage class. Milk, cocoa 
and chocolate are essentially nuritive, but in ad¬ 
dition they possess stimulative qualities. Other 
beverages are useful, not as foods, but for their 
stimulating and thirst-quenching properties. 

The end-products of nutrition are life and 
energy. Normal physical proportions are 
achieved by a precise knowledge of foods and an 
intelligent application of their nutritive prin¬ 
ciples to exact body requirements. No human 
individual can master the secret of weight-con¬ 
trol until he knows what foods to eat and how 
much of each he requires. 

Know foods, therefore, for what they are and 
do. Thus and thus only can proper weight be 
attained and maintained. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “What to Eat”—“Vitamines: 
Essential Food Factors,” Harrow; “Practical Dietetics,” 
Pattee; “Chemistry of Food and Nutrition,” Sherman; 
“Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics,” Carter, Howe & 
Mason. 




28 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER III 

Nutrition 

NUTRITION comprehends those physiologic 
processes by which food is digested, absorbed 
into the blood and lymph streams, assimilated 
and utilized by the body for energy and tissue 
repair; and by which the products of combus¬ 
tion, the debris of wear and tear, and unused 
waste are eliminated. All nutritive phenomena 
occurring after absorption are collectively 
termed metabolism, which literally means tissue 
change. 

The processes of nutrition, therefore, include 
the secretion of the digestive juices, their chem¬ 
ical action upon foods in the alimentary tube, 
the physical passage of nutritive elements into 
the blood vessels and lymphatic channels, their 
assimilation by living body cells and the elimina¬ 
tion of the end-products of metabolism. 

Natural economy permits no waste. To that 
end Nature has ordained that the animal and 
vegetable kingdom shall nourish one another. 
Each is complemental to the other in so far as 
their common nutrition is concerned and this 
interdependent relationship constitutes a 
graphic life cycle. 

Thus, from the carbon dioxide and moisture 
of the atmosphere and from nitrogenous ma- 



Nutrition 


29 


terials in the soil, plants build up their complex 
fats, sugars and proteins. Animals utilize these 
products as food in turn. Then, in the course of 
the varied processes of their nutrition, their 
bodies eliminate the moisture, carbon dioxide 
and those nitrogenous substances which are the 
foodstuffs plants require. 

To understand the digestion of food ele¬ 
ments and their absorption into the blood and 
lymph streams it is necessary to know something 
of the human digestive tube, its location, gross 
anatomy and general physiology. Furthermore, 
it must be borne in mind that so long as foods 
remain within this tract they are valueless to 
the body and that they become truly nutritious 
only as they are absorbed and metabolized. 

The alimentary canal begins at the mouth, 
passes down through the neck as the pharynx, 
becomes the esophagus at the upper limit of the 
chest and the stomach just below the diaphragm. 
The first part of the small intestine, the duo¬ 
denum, is about ten inches in length and takes 
off from the right and lower extremity of the 
stomach. Its next portion is called the jejunum, 
and is nearly four feet long. The terminal divi¬ 
sion of the lesser bowel is known as the ileum 
and its length is approximately fourteen feet. 

The duodenum, after it leaves the stomach, 
lies just below the liver and is looped from right 



30 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


to left. The other parts of the small intestine 
are centrally located and more or less bunched 
together. 

The large intestine begins with a blind end 
called the caecum into which the ileum empties 
and which is located low down in the right side 
of the abdomen. It runs directly upward as 
the ascending colon to a point just below the 
liver, where it turns to the left and, as the 
transverse colon, courses horizontally across the 
abdominal cavity. On the left side, below the 
spleen, it turns downward, is called the descend¬ 
ing colon, and extends to the inner aspect of the 
hip bone. From thence, as the rectum, it runs 
down through the pelvis to its terminal opening, 
the anus. This part of the alimentary tract, 
including the rectum, is about six feet in length. 

Several glands are located along the course 
of the digestive tube whose function it is to 
secrete essential digestive juices. 

The salivary glands (parotid, submaxillary 
and sublingual) are connected with the mouth 
and manufacture the saliva, which is the first 
digestive fluid to be encountered by the food as 
it enters the tube. Saliva contains two essential 
substances, well diluted in water. They are: 
mucin, a viscid natural lubricant which very 
effectually lubricates the contents of the mouth; 
and ptyalin, the characteristic enzyme or fer- 



Nutrition 


31 


ment of saliva, which has the chemical power to 
convert starchy foods into maltose, a sugar. 

In the inner coat of the stomach are located 
the so-called gastric glands which produce gas¬ 
tric juice. The important constituents of this 
fluid are pepsin, rennin and hydrochloric acid. 
The first two are enzymes, like ptyalin, and they 
have the power of partially digesting protein 
foods. Pepsin, however, will not act upon nitro¬ 
genous materials unless acid is present. There¬ 
fore nature provides for this need by manufac¬ 
turing hydrochloric acid on the spot. This 
chemical is present in normal gastric juice to the 
extent of about .4 of one per cent. In addition to 
its actuating effect upon pepsin, it also serves as 
a highly valuable antiseptic and effectually de¬ 
stroys harmful bacteria which lodge in the mouth 
and pharynx and are swallowed with the food. 

Two most important glands are connected 
with the small intestine, into which food that 
has undergone gastric digestion is emptied. They 
are the liver and pancreas. The duodenum also 
manufactures a juice of its own which is known 
as succus entericus. 

The liver is the largest gland in the body, 
weighing about three and one-half pounds. Its 
functions are varied and vital. So far as diges¬ 
tion is concerned, however, its chief product is 
bile. This important fluid, although it contains 



32 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


no enzymes so far as is known, greatly facili¬ 
tates the disintegration of fats and further 
serves as a highly efficient intestinal antiseptic. 

The pancreas is, perhaps, the most essential 
of all digestive glands. It produces three types 
of enzymes: trypsin, a powerful reagent in pro¬ 
tein digestion; amylopsin, for the final treat¬ 
ment of starches; and lipase, a fat-splitting 
element. In addition to these digestive juices, it 
has lately been proven that the islands of Lang- 
erhans, those mysterious little clumps of “dif¬ 
ferent” cells embedded within the substance of 
the organ, are in reality ductless glands; and 
that they manufacture a vital internal secretion 
called insulin. This hormone is the essential 
“spark” in sugar oxidation. 

Thus it will be seen that food, by the time it 
has passed through the first part of the small 
intestine, is ready for absorption and transmis¬ 
sion to the cells which it must nourish and 
sustain. 

The products of carbohydrate and protein 
digestion are absorbed for the most part by the 
blood vessels in the walls of the small intestine; 
and the finely divided fats are taken up by 
similarly located lymphatic channels called 
lacteals. 



Nutrition 


33 


The carbohydrates, which consist of simple 
sugars, are first carried by the portal vein to 
the liver where they are stored in the form of 
glycogen. This organic sugar is used whenever 
there is need for the expenditure of physical 
energy. 

Some of the proteins, mainly the amino-acids, 
are taken up by the living cells and transmuted 
by constructive cell metabolism into tissue pro¬ 
tein. The remainder of these nitrogenous ele¬ 
ments are decomposed by the liver and changed 
into urea, which is ejected from the body by the 
kidneys. 

The products of fat digestion are reassem¬ 
bled as fats immediately after absorption and 
carried by lymph flow to the thoracic duct in 
the neck, thrown into the general blood stream, 
and transported to the various adipose tissues 
where they are stored until needed. 

All undigested food remaining when the con¬ 
tents of the small intestine are discharged into 
the colon are carried forward through that 
structure and dried out by absorption of water 
through its walls. As this detritus passes 
through the large bowel it gradually assumes a 
semi-solid consistency and finally, as fecal resi¬ 
due, is ejected through the anus. 

Water and mineral matter are unchanged by 



34 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


digestive processes, for their chemical composi¬ 
tion is so simple they can be absorbed without 
structural alteration. 

Aside from the excretions of the large intes¬ 
tine, the waste products of metabolism and 
unutilized nutritive elements are eliminated 
from the system in various ways. Water escapes 
through the lungs, skin and kidneys. Carbon 
dioxide, produced by metabolic oxidation of car¬ 
bohydrates and fats, escapes through the lungs. 
The end-products of protein metabolism gain 
egress chiefly by way of the kidneys. 

The feces are composed mainly of unused and 
partially digested foodstuffs. They also con¬ 
tain some biliary substances and other biologic 
products. Excessive putrefaction in the large 
bowel causes some colonic absorption of harm¬ 
ful poisons which must in turn be eliminated by 
way of the kidneys. In general, however, it is 
known that carbohydrate fermentation and 
nitrogenous putrefaction more or less complete¬ 
ly neutralize and hold each other in check. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “The Source, Chemistry and 
Use of Food Products,” Baily; “What to Eat,” Harrow; 
“Practical Dietetics,” Pattee; “What We Eat and What 
Happens to It,” Hawk. 




Food Values 


35 


CHAPTER IV. 

Food Values 

In the light of the foregoing chapters it is 
now possible to appreciate the essential facts of 
food values thoroughly. It must be understood, 
however, that these estimates are based solely 
upon that food which is actually assimilated by 
the body and do not involve unabsorbed or excess 
aliment. 

Food ministers to the body wants in several 
different ways. It is a tissue builder and repair¬ 
er; it is oxidized to maintain animal heat and to 
supply necessary energy; and it may be stored 
in reserve for future use. Or, to recapitulate 
the classification of foods according to their 
function: nutritive substances may be regarded 
as tissue builders, energy producers and physi¬ 
ologic regulators. 

It is significant, also, in connection with the 
subject of weight-control to note that all energy- 
yielding materials not required by immediate 
metabolic needs are stored as glycogen and fat. 
And further, that beyond a certain point such 
reserves are burdensome and undesirable. Pro¬ 
teins, on the other hand, are not hoarded by the 
body. 



36 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Nitrogen Balance 

As previously stated, nitrogen is an essential 
constituent of all living cells. It is a vital tissue¬ 
building and repair material. Protein foods, 
therefore, are absolutely indispensable in diet. 
They have, however, little or no value as energy 
and heat producers. Carbohydrates and fats 
provide these forces. 

Nitrogen is not stored by the tissues of the 
body but is constantly eliminated in approximate 
proportion to its intake. Thus, the protein 
content of a normal diet must provide sufficient 
quantities of the element to compensate for the 
losses incurred by its elimination. 

When ingested nitrogen equals eliminated 
nitrogen a physiologic nitrogen equilibrium 
obtains. That is to say: if too little protein is 
taken, the supply of body nitrogen is depleted 
and the cells of the tissues are denied their quota 
of this life-giving and life-sustaining primordial. 

Nitrogen starvation is the inevitable result 
and it is characterized by objective weight-loss 
and proportionate emaciation. The same thing 
occurs when food nitrogen is not absorbed or is 
thrown off without being utilized. 

Fortunately, nitrogen balance is not easily 
disturbed and will persist over considerable 
periods even under the most adverse circum- 



Food Values 


37 


stances. But there is a limit beyond which the 
body will not tolerate the withholding of pro¬ 
tein foods. 

Furthermore, experimentation in the labora¬ 
tory and clinic have conclusively shown that 
nitrogen elimination depends to a large extent 
upon nitrogen intake. And, that nitrogen re¬ 
tention is encouraged by the judicious combina¬ 
tion of a liberal supply of carbohydrates and fats 
with the proteins of diet. 

However, recent research in nutrition has 
established the fact that the total fuel values of 
foods are of greater practical import in alimen¬ 
tation than nitrogen values. Therefore the heat 
and energy producing capacity of foodstuffs is 
of more significance than their nitrogen content. 
Especially is this the case when weight-control 
is the dietary objective. Indeed, a comparative¬ 
ly small amount of protein material is required 
by the average individual in good health if com¬ 
bined and taken with an equitable supply of car¬ 
bohydrates and fats. 

The Energy Value of Food 

It has long been known that animal heat is 
generated by the burning up or oxidation of car¬ 
bohydrates and fats. As a matter of fact, all 
forms of biologic energy are primarily derived 
from carbohydrates and fats; and from proteins 



38 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


only in so far as they yield combustible, non- 
nitrogenous materials. 

Energy is defined as the power to do work. 
It may be potential, that is to say, inactive 
energy; or it may manifest itself in varying 
purposeful forms such as heat, chemical or elec¬ 
trical activities or mechanical movements. And 
it may be changed from one of these kinetic 
forms into another without dissipating any of 
its essential characteristics. 

Energy cannot be spontaneously created. It 
was hurled into space in its entirety by Divine 
fiat at the beginning of things and has existed 
unwasted and fundamentally unchanged 
throughout succeeding aeons. It can never die 
for it is the essence of infinity. 

The vital forces of this all pervasive and 
eternally active principle are made available to 
the human body by the intricate biologic and 
physiologic processes of the vegetable-animal 
life cycle. Plants derive their energy from the 
sun and store it up within themselves. Animals 
eat plants or other animals whose diet is her¬ 
baceous and thus incorporate it into their beings. 
Man eats both plants and animals and thereby 
secures his quota of energy. 

It is axiomatic that as much energy must be 
put into a mechanical structure as is expected 



Food Values 


89 


from it. This is as true of the human machine as 
of any other, for the body is fundamentally a 
most intricate yet highly efficient physical 
mechanism. 

The total amount of energy assimilated by 
the body, however, cannot be transformed into 
useful work, for considerable quantities of it are 
continually being dissipated by physical friction 
and chemical activity in the form of heat. But 
Nature, with characteristic economy, immediate¬ 
ly utilizes this unavailable energy to maintain a 
constant, normal body temperature and thereby 
conserves it and causes it to serve a useful pur¬ 
pose. 

The most convenient method for measuring 
energy is in terms of heat. An equitable unit 
for heat measurement has been devised. It is 
called the calorie, and exactly corresponds to a 
similar work unit. 

Simply stated, a calorie is that specific 
amount of heat necessary to raise the tempera¬ 
ture of one kilogram (about two and one-fifth 
pounds) of water one degree centigrade. A 
calorie is not heat; it is not food; it is but a 
unit of measure, just as the terms foot, gallon, 
pound, etc., denote a comparative determination 
of length, fluid content and weight. 

The caloric value of a food is determined ac- 



40 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


curately by the use of an instrument called the 
calorimeter. This consists of two chambers; an 
inner, which contains the dry food to be burned 
and an outer, which is filled with water cooled 
to the point of its greatest density. The con¬ 
tents of the inner chamber are ignited by an 
electric spark and the heat thus generated is 
transferred to the surrounding water. The re¬ 
sultant change in the temperature of the water 
is recorded by a delicate thermometer and thus 
the total amount of heat evolved is calculated. 
Then, to determine the fuel value of the same 
food within the body, the average amount of 
energy which is lost in digestion or which is 
not completely metabolized is deducted from its 
fuel value outside the body. The result is its 
so-called physiologic fuel value. 

Lavoisier, the great French chemist, who 
was the founder of the sciences of nutrition and 
modern chemistry, first taught that foods are 
literally burnt within the body. He showed con¬ 
clusively that this process is carried out by an 
absorption of oxygen (oxidation) and a giving 
out of carbon dioxide in much the same manner 
that a piece of wood is burnt. 

Recent experimentation has proven that 
when foods are oxidized within the body they 
give off almost as much heat as when they are 
burned in the calorimeter. 



Food Values 


41 


For instance: one ounce of fat produces ap¬ 
proximately 275 calories in the calorimeter and 
about 255 calories in the body; an ounce of dry 
protein gives off 120 calories in the instrument 
and about 113 in the body; and the same amount 
of carbohydrate material produces the same ap¬ 
proximate volumes of heat and energy as pro¬ 
tein. 

It is to be noted that proteins and carbohy¬ 
drates have about the same fuel value. They 
are not interchangeable in diet, however, for 
protein, on account of its nitrogen content is ab¬ 
solutely necessary as building and repair ma¬ 
terial. Carbohydrates, which are non-nitro- 
genous, cannot provide for this need. But on the 
other hand fats and carbohydrates are inter¬ 
changeable, for both are essentially energy pro¬ 
ducers. 

From all of this it will readily be seen that the 
calories count most in weight-control. This in 
turn implies a quantitative rather than a quali¬ 
tative control of dietaries in obesity and its 
antithesis. In fact, it is more important to keep 
track of calories than variety. 

Foodstuffs, therefore, should be chosen and 
combined into dietetic formulae for their energy 
potential rather than arbitrarily apportioned 
according to their nutritive function. 



42 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Following is a comparative estimation of the 
average caloric requirements of different types 
of normal individuals. The tables are a compila¬ 
tion of data made available by the foremost 
modern authorities on nutrition. 

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 

Infants.40 to 50 calories per pound per day 

Growing Children... 30 to 40 calories per pound per day 

Adults.15 to 20 calories per pound per day 

Old Age.10 to 15 calories per pound per day 

DAILY REQUIREMENTS 
Childhood and Adolescence. 

Children (2 to 6).1000 to 1600 calories 

Children (6 to 12).1600 to 2500 calories 

Adolescents.2500 to 3000 calories 

Adult Male Requirements. 

Resting.1800 to 2100 calories 

Sedentary occupation.2200 to 2800 calories 

Hard physical labor.3500 to 4200 calories 

Adult Female Requirements. 

Resting.1600 to 1900 calories 

Sedentary occupation.2000 to 2200 calories 

Ordinary physical labor.. .2200 to 2600 calories 

Hard physical labor.2600 to 3200 calories 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Practical Dietetics,” Pattee; 
“Diet and Health with Key to the Calories,” Lulu Hunt 
Peters; “What to Eat,” Benjamin Harrow. 

















The Caloric Value of Foods 


43 


CHAPTER V. 

The Caloric Value of Foods 

The following tables indicate the caloric 
value of ordinary articles of diet. They contain 
all the commoner foods and from them the ap¬ 
proximate nutritive value of other foodstuffs 
may easily be computed. 

In studying these lists the reader should bear 
in mind the essential fact that any food taken 
beyond physiologic requirements for energy, 
growth and repair is fattening, or is an irritant, 
or both. It should also be remembered that if a 
food contains much fat its food value is high, 
for fat produces two and one-quarter times the 
number of calories obtained from the same 
quantity of either proteins or carbohydrates. 

Dry foods possess a relatively high caloric 
content, for they contain but little water and are 
concentrated. For instance: a medium sized 
piece of chocolate candy and one and one-half 
pounds of lettuce both yield 100 C. (Hereafter 
calories will be designated by their symbol C.) 

The figures given in the accompanying tab¬ 
ulations do not indicate the exact fuel value of 
the foods referred to for authorities differ some¬ 
what in their computations. However, although 
they are not mathematically correct, they give 



44 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


a clear idea of relative values and are accurate 
enough for all practical purposes. 

GENERAL TABLE 

(Number of Calories per ounce.) 

Breads . 75 

Cheese, cream.110 

Cheese, cottage. 30 

Cream, average thickness. 90 

Eggs . 40 

Fats.255 

Fruits, dried.100 

Fruits, sweet fresh. 25 

Fruits, acid, fresh. 15 

Fish, lean. 35 

Milk, whole. 20 

Milk, skim and buttermilk. 10 

Milk, sweet, condensed.100 

Milk, unsweetened, condensed. 50 

Meats, lean. 50 

Nuts.200 

Sugar.115 

Vegetables, starchy. 80 

Vegetables, leguminous. 25 

Vegetables, watery and leafy. 10 























The Caloric Value of Foods 


45 


THE NUTRITIVE VALUE OF INDIVIDUAL FOOD 
MATERIALS 


(Number of Calories per Average Serving.) 
A 


Foodstuff. 

Quantity. 

Calories. 

Almonds, shelled . . 

.10. 

.100 

Apples, fresh. 

. average. 

. 90 

Apples, dried. 


.230 

Apricots, fresh .... 

.average. 

.115 

Apricots, dried . .., 

.... 1 cup. 

.230 

Asparagus.. 

. 20 stalks. 

.110 


B 


Bacon. 

. 1/2 ounce. 

.100 

Bananas. 

. medium. 

. 80 

Barley, pearl. 

. . 1 ounce. 

. 90 

Barley, flour. 


.800 

Beans, baked navy. 

.. 414 ° zs . 

.300 

Beans, lima. 

.3 ounces. 

.100 

Beans, string. 

.4 ounces. 

. 45 

Beef broth.3^ ounces. 

. 15 

Beef steak, porter.. 

. 31/2 ozs... 

.235 

Beef steak, rump.. 

.314 ozs. 

.200 

Beef steak, sirloin. 

.3% ozs. 

.210 

Beef steak, round.. 

.3% ozs. 

.150 

Beef roast. 

.3% ozs. 

.130 

Bran. 


.210 

Brazil nuts, shelled. 

.5. 

.235 

Bread, all kinds... 


.100 


(There is little difference in the caloric value of 
breadstuffs. Toasted bread yields the same 
amount of nutrition as untoasted.) 

1 tablespoon. 


Butter 


100 











































46 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


C 


Carrots. 


. 40 

Cauliflower. 


. 35 

Celery. 

6 stalks. 

. 15 

Cheese. 

• •% . 

.100 

Cheese, cottage . .. . 


.100 

Chicken. 

3% ozs. 

.150 

Chocolate. 


.175 

Chocolate, sweet ... 

... 1 oz. 

.250 

Clams. 

3% ozs. 

. 50 

Clam bouillon. 

. 31/2 ozs. 

. 3 

Cocoa.1 tablespoon. 

. 70 

Codfish, fresh. 

.3 y<± ozs. 

. 70 

Codfish, salted. 


. 70 

Consomme. 

3% ozs. 

. 10 

Corn, sweet. 

. .3 ozs. 

. 85 

Cornmeal. 


.300 

Cornstarch. 

.. . 1 oz. 

.110 

Crackers. 


.125 

Cream, thin (18%). 

. . . V 2 oz. 

. 30 

Cream, thick (40%). 

,.. % oz. 

. 60 

Cucumbers, fresh .. 

... 2 ozs. 

. 10 

Currants, fresh .... 


. 48 

Currants, dried .... 


. 85 


D 


Dates. 


.355 

Doughnuts . 

.average. 

.150 


E 


Eggs . 

. average. 

. 60 


F 


Farinaceous cereals. 

...1 oz. 

.100 






















































The Calorie Value of Foods 

47 

Flaked corn, etc... 


.100 

Figs. 

.3. 

.275 

Filberts, shelled.. 

.12. 

.150 

Fowl. 

.. 3 1/2 ozs. 

.225 


G 


Gelatin.average helping 

Greens.4 ozs. 

Grapes.4 ozs. 

Grape juice.4 ozs. 

H 

Haddock.3% ozs. 

Halibut.3% ozs. 

Ham, lean, fresh-3% ozs. 

Ham, cured.3 ozs. 

Hickory nuts.1% ozs. 

Hominy.4 ozs. 

Honey.1 oz. 


J 

Jello, etc.... average helping 
K 

Koumiss.1 glass 


75 

25 

110 

120 


75 
120 
225 
.350 
.300 
.400 
, 95 


70 


125 


L 


Lamb chops.3% ozs. 

Lard.1 oz. 

Lemon juice.1 lemon 

Lettuce.4 ozs. 

Lobster.3% ozs. 


330 

230 

15 

18 

85 












































48 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


M 


Macaroni. 


.100 

Mackerel, fresh. 

_3 1/2 ozs. 

.140 

Mackerel, salted 

.... 31/2 ozs. 

.225 

Malted milk... . 

.% oz. 

. 60 

Milk, whole ... , 

.1 cup. 

.. ...170 

Milk, skimmed. . 

.1 cup. 

. 90 

Milk, condensed. 

.1 oz. 

.50-100 

Molasses. 


. 85 

Muskmelon (cantaloupe).. %. 

.100 

Mutton. 


.375 


N 


Noodles_average helping. 

.200 


0 


Oatmeal. 

.5 ozs. 

.100 

Olive oil. 


.270 

Olives. 

.6. 

. 70 

Onions. 

.4 ozs. 

. 55 

Oranges. 

. .1 medium. 

. 75 

Orange juice... . 

.1 cup. 

.100 

Oysters. 

.2. 

. 15 


P 


Parsnips. 


. 25 

Peaches, fresh.. 

.. 1 medium. 

. 50 

Peaches, dried.. 


.250 

Peanuts, shelled. 

... .10 large. 

.100 

Peanut butter..: 

1 tablespoon. 

.100 

Peas, green .... 

.4 ozs. 

.115 

Peas, canned... 


. 75 

Pecans, shelled.. 

.5 large. 

.100 

Pineapple, fresh, 


. 50 

















































The Caloric Value of Foods 


49 


Pineapple, canned-1 slice. 

Pork chops.1 average. 

Pork roast.3 ozs.. 

Potatoes, white... 1 medium. 
Potatoes, sweet... 1 medium. 

Prunes.3 average. 

Popcorn, popped.... 1% cups. 

Q 

Quail. 31/2 ozs. 

R 

Raisins.3 ozs. 

Radishes.6 average 

Raspberries, fresh.... 4 ozs. 
Raspberries, canned.. .4 ozs. 

Rhubarb.5 ozs. 

Rice.4 ozs. 


S 


Salmon.3% ozs.. 

Sardines. 3V2 ozs.. 

Shad. 31/2 ozs.. 

Shad Roe.3% ozs.. 

Shredded Wheat Biscuit.. .1. 

Spinach.4 ozs.. 

Squabs.3% ozs. 

Squash . • • • -3^4 ozs - 

Strawberries .4 ozs. 

Suet. 1 oz - 

Sugar.4 tablespoon 

Sugar loaf.1 lump 

Sugar, powdered.1 tbsp. 

Sugar of milk.... 1 teaspoon 
Sweetbreads.3*4 ozs - 


.130 
.225 
.300 
.100 
.200 
. 75 
.100 


160 


275 

15 

75 

80 

30 

100 


.200 
.270 
.160 
.125 
.100 
. 27 
.375 
. 45 
. 45 
.215 
. 75 
. 35 
. 50 
. 20 
.175 





















































50 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Tomatoes, fresh. . 

.1 medium. 

. 15 

Tomatoes, canned. 

.... 4 ozs. 

. 25 

Tapioca, pearled. . 

..... 1 oz. 

.100 

Tapioca, minute. . 

. 1 oz. 

.100 

Trout. 

. . 31/2 ozs. 

.165 

Turnips. 

. . 31/2 ozs. 

. 40 

Turkey. 

.. . 31/2 ozs. 

.290 


W 


Walnuts. 

. 5 medium. 

. 35 

Whey. 

... 1 glass. 

.. . 50 

Whitefish ....... 

. .3!/2 ozs. 

.150 


The so-called “made” dishes (hash and other 
mixtures, puddings, pastries, sauces, etc.) have 
not been included in the foregoing tables because 
their composition is not constant. To estimate 
their food value it is necessary to compute the 
number of calories each of their ingredients will 
yield. The results may thereafter be summed 
and the total nutritive value of the dishes ascer¬ 
tained. Sufficient data has been given to make 
comparative estimation of the caloric content of 
any such food preparation easy of accomplish¬ 
ment. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Diet and Health with Key to 
the Calories,” Lulu Hunt Peters; “Practical Dietetics, 
Pattee; “Dietary Computer,” Pope; “Bulletins of U. S. 
Department of Agriculture”; “Feeding the Family,” 
Rose. Other authorities consulted: Locke, Lusk and 
Friedenwald and Rurah. 























Constipation 


51 


CHAPTER VI. 

Constipation 

Constipation is one of the most vicious and 
widely prevalent ills known to this complex age. 
It is by far the commonest of digestive disturb¬ 
ances. Indeed, the individual who is not subject 
to it is the exception rather than the rule these 
days. 

There are several varieties of this complaint, 
ranging on the one hand from the acute type 
which occurs more or less infrequently and is 
usually due to dietetic indiscretion, to those 
countless chronic cases on the other in which re¬ 
course must be had to all sorts of chemical laxa¬ 
tives, cathartics and purgatives to maintain any 
semblance of bowel action. 

Specific weight-control is almost impossible 
in the presence of constipation, for the retention 
of the toxic products of downward metabolism 
(disassimilation) and their poisonous effect up¬ 
on the tissues of the body disrupts and perverts 
the physiologic balance of normal nutrition. 
Thus, under the influence of colonic stasis the 
fat grow fatter and the thin still thinner. Indeed, 
it is a well-established scientific fact that normal 
weight cannot be achieved so long as prompt 
excretion of body waste does not obtain. 



52 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Constipation results from a variety of causes. 
Errors in diet, irregularity at stool, sedentary 
habits and hygienic carelessness are among its 
more common etiologic factors. 

Generally speaking, civilized humans eat too 
much rich and indigestible food, drink insuffici¬ 
ent quantities of water and indulge in far too 
little exercise. In fact, the average individual 
bestows less consideration upon his body than he 
would ordinarily show a house pet. 

As a result, the excretory terminus of the 
alimentary tube becomes glutted and is eventu¬ 
ally unable to pass discarded detritus along as 
rapidly as raw material is taken. Extensive 
functional perversion of the large bowel there¬ 
upon obtains and all of its physiologic processes 
are materially slowed down. This reacts to 
encourage further accumulation and so the 
vicious cycle runs, gaining impetus with each 
recurrent phase. 

Nature has provided for just such an emer¬ 
gency with a physiologic mechanism by which 
exercise whips up intestinal action, facilitates 
the passage of accumulated waste through the 
colon and causes its speedy discharge through 
natural channels. But when no exercise is taken 
this inherent defensive mechanism is not set in 
motion. The colon then becomes more and more 



Constipation 


53 


seriously handicapped until at length the point 
is reached where it will not and finally cannot 
operate normally. 

The symptoms of constipation are too well 
recognized to require much attention here. 
General indisposition, headache, stomach dis¬ 
orders, hemorrhoids and a thousand and one 
constitutional ailments follow in its train. Prac¬ 
tically all of these morbid manifestations are the 
results of a condition called, for want of a better 
term, auto-intoxication, in which the body is 
more or less poisoned by the deleterious end- 
products of its own metabolic activities. 

To avoid constipation one has only to eat 
plain, simple food, combined in suitable dietary 
formulae designed to meet his individual nutri¬ 
tive needs, to drink copious quantities of pure 
water, to give his body an adequate amount of 
physical exercise and to attend to the calls of 
nature promptly. 

It is generally conceded that there is no suc¬ 
cessful drug treatment for chronic constipation. 
Chemical cathartics and medicinal purgatives 
can at best but give temporary relief, and then 
only at the expense of the health and well-being 
of the entire intestinal tract. 

A treatment, to be thoroughly effectual in 
this disorder, must specifically remove its first 



54 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


causes. This may be accomplished in a number 
of perfectly natural ways. 

Osteopathic treatment is probably the most 
valuable and universally effective of all natural 
remedies for constipation. It very thoroughly 
removes the physical first causes of the disturb¬ 
ance and positively stimulates a rhythmic re¬ 
sumption of natural persistaltic activity 
throughout the digestive tube. But even osteo¬ 
pathy cannot make a complete cure possible until 
dietetic and hygienic habits are corrected and 
rationalized. 

Constipation may be deliberately avoided if 
due attention is given to matters of diet and a 
little intelligent care is exercised in the selection 
and combination of foodstuffs. It can also be 
cured; but the latter process involves more or 
less extensive and permanent damage to the 
tissues of the body. It is, therefore, obviously 
the better plan to avoid it altogether. 

As has been intimated, the best prophylaxis 
is not to be found in medicines but in proper diet, 
adequate exercise, regular habits at stool, etc. 

A proper diet must include some indigestible 
roughage to provide desirable bulk for intestinal 
contents and to cleanse the walls of the alimen¬ 
tary tube mechanically by scrubbing them; and 



Constipation 


55 


it must also contain plenty of water to wash them 
down. 

Cellulose is the usual roughage element pre¬ 
scribed in diet. It may be described as the 
“bone” of plants and is present in all vegetables, 
whole grains, etc. It consists of hard, more or 
less impervious fibrous tissue. 

Ordinarily, cellulose is unaffected by diges¬ 
tive processes. There are some individuals, how¬ 
ever, who are troubled with extremely faulty 
elimination, whose alimentary tracts possess 
the power to digest some forms of cellulose. 
Therefore, if a liberal vegetable diet does not 
show results within a reasonable period of time, 
the more resistant forms of the substance, such 
as bran, should be tried. And in such cases the 
Japanese seaweed, agar (agaragar) is excellent, 
also. This material is wholly indigestible, harm¬ 
less, and has the desirable property of absorbing 
large quantities of water, thus increasing its 
bulk and adding more fluid to the intestinal 
content. 

Cellulose is present in remedial quantities in 
the following foods: carrots, turnips, cabbage, 
beets, spinach, tomatoes, beans, peas, celery, 
lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, whole grains 
ground into coarse flour or meal, prunes, berries, 
figs and nuts. 



56 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Cellulose and agar are the only substances 
which can measurably increase fecal bulk. Dr. J. 
H. Kellogg, of the Battle Creek Sanitarium, who 
is one of the most distinguished living authori¬ 
ties on nutrition, says: 

“One to two ounces of cellulose are needed 
daily. Bran is a form of cellulose; agar shows 
chemical resemblance to gums. Fasting, a scanty 
diet, a liquid diet, such as milk, gruels, porridges, 
a diet consisting of such foods as potatoes, rice, 
meat, eggs, tea, coffee and condiments, are con¬ 
stipating. Green vegetables contain much cellu¬ 
lose ; these foods are laxative. Half of the bulk 
of dried feces consists of food residues, the other 
half of germs and of poisonous matter excreted 
by the intestines, which should be gotten rid of 
as soon as possible. Exercise promotes bowel 
action. Drugs of all sorts must be avoided.” 

The bowels should move at least once daily, 
passing a well-formed and not too disagree¬ 
ably odorous stool. Dr. Kellogg claims that 
no individual is in good health unless he has 
three evacuations each twenty-four hours. This 
may be somewhat fanatical, or it may be a de¬ 
liberate over-emphasis of fact. At any rate, 
coming from a physician of Dr. Kellogg’s stand¬ 
ing and attainments, it is worthy of serious 
thought. 



Constipation 


57 


If, in spite of a rational and carefully selected 
dietary, the bowels do not empty themselves 
satisfactorily every twenty-four hours, other 
causes must be sought and removed as found. 

Osteopathic lesions are decidedly predispos¬ 
ing to constipation. They can only be adjusted 
by a competent osteopathic physician. 

Sometimes a temporary increase of the cellu¬ 
lose content of the diet will suffice. If not, 
mechanical lubrication of the interior of the 
digestive tube with one of the heavier mineral 
oils (Nujol is best for this purpose) will produce 
excellent results. These oils should be used in 
preference to chemical laxatives and medicinal 
purgatives, for they have no physiologic action 
upon the mucous membrane which lines the in¬ 
testinal walls, are unaffected by digestive proc¬ 
esses, and pass through the tube unchanged. 
They exert no harmful influence upon the body 
and are not habit-forming. 

Temporary relief from acute colonic stasis 
may be obtained by the use of the enema. Flush¬ 
ing of the large bowel with water introduced 
through the rectum is valuable where quick 
evacuation is imperative. Continual washing of 
the colon, however, is not desirable for it tends 
to rob that structure of its normal secretions 
and to promote a sort of disuse paralysis. 



58 


Nothing to Eat But Food, 


There is prevalent a popular fallacy appar¬ 
ently based upon this method. It is that copious 
and forced flushing of the colon (internal bath¬ 
ing) will normalize its functions and overcome 
constipation. Such treatment, however, is ex¬ 
tremely dangerous and should not be habitually 
indulged in under any circumstances. 

Again, constipation is much easier to avoid 
than to cure. It may be shunned by proper diet¬ 
ary precautions, the copious ingestion of large 
quantities of pure water and a modicum of 
physical exercise. 

Constipation fertilizes the soil wherein the 
seeds of disease take root and grow. It is a 
frequent contributory cause of overweight and 
underweight. It decreases physical efficiency, 
increases mental stagnation and dulls the keen 
edge of all sense perceptions. There is no excuse 
for constipation! 

Nowhere is the old adage: “An ounce of pre¬ 
vention is worth a pound of cure” more appli¬ 
cable than in this connection. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “What to Eat,” Harrow; “The 
Itinerary of a Breakfast,” Kellogg; “Constipation and 
Allied Intestinal Disorders,” Hunt; “How to Live,” 
Fisher and Fisk. 




Overweight 


59 


CHAPTER VII. 

Overweight 

Overweight is a symptom, not a disease. It 
indicates just one of two states: an organic 
nutritional disturbance or an inordinate and un¬ 
controlled appetite. For there are only two 
classes of fat people: those whose increased bulk 
is a sign of faulty assimilation and those whose 
underhanging jowls and pot-bellies manifest an 
overwhelming lack of self control. 

When obesity is due to faulty metabolism, 
reduction of physical bulk is altogether a matter 
of proper, specific treatment for that particular 
type of pathology which is responsible for the 
condition. With such this treatise is not con¬ 
cerned. 

But for every stout individual who suffers 
with a chronic nutritional disease there are 
ninety-nine others who are the victims of noth¬ 
ing more serious than over-eating and sheer 
laziness. For the average case of obesity is 
simply an objective manifestation of a perfectly 
natural accumulation of unused foodstuffs, re¬ 
sulting from too great disparity between intake 
and output. And this for the reason that much 
of the nutriment taken in excess of the require¬ 
ments of basal metabolism and daily energy 



60 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


needs is quite naturally and of necessity stored 
away within the meshes of the areolar tissues 
of the body. 

Thus the question arises: “How is one to 
know when he is overweight?” And it is well 
that it fits so naturally into the early considera¬ 
tion of the matter, for to determine normal 
weight in any given case is indeed a real 
problem. 

As has been pointed out repeatedly, each 
human individual is a law unto himself; and his 
physical states are subject to comparatively 
broad variations between more or less elastic 
limits. 

However, although the foregoing statement 
is literally true in a general biologic sense, it 
must also be borne in mind that all orders of 
created things tend to conform to a certain mean 
standard. And thus it is that the average 
weights of individuals of various heights and 
ages can be computed with a reasonable degree 
of accuracy. It is to be thoroughly understood, 
though, that such tabulations are guides and 
nothing more. They represent the average and 
not the ideal. Hence all references to height- 
weight tables must be modified and interpreted 
to suit the peculiar individual conditions at hand. 

The following table, compiled from statistics 



Overweight 


61 


published by several great life insurance com¬ 
panies, is accurate enough for all practical pur¬ 
poses: 


MEN WOMEN 


HEIGHT 

WEIGHT 

HEIGHT 

WEIGHT 

Ft. 

In. 

Lbs. 

Ft. 

In. 

Lbs. 

5 

1. 

.120 

4 

10. 

.108 

5 

2. 

......125 

4 

11. 

.112 

5 

3. 

.130 

5 

0. 

.114 

5 

4. 

.135 

5 

1. 

.118 

5 

5. 

.141 

5 

2. 

.123 

5 

6.. 

.145 

5 

3. 

.126 

5 

7. 

.150 

5 

4. 

.129 

5 

8. 

.154 

5 

5. 

.133 

5 

9. 

.159 

5 

6. 

.137 

5 

10. 

.164 

5 

7. 

.142 

5 

11. 

.169 

5 

8. 

.146 

6 

0. 

.175 

5 

9. 

.150 

6 

1 . 

.181 

5 

10 . 

.154 

6 

2 . 

.188 

5 

11 . 

.158 


The above averages should never be regarded 
as absolute, for they are subject to an infinite 
number of perfectly normal variations. Age, for 
instance, has its constant influence, the tendency 
being for physical proportions to increase slight¬ 
ly with the passing of the years. 


Tibbies, in Food in Health and Disease, 
gives an admirable representation of this pro¬ 
gressive modification in males. By referring 
to the preceding general table and computing 































62 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


variations upon the same basis, the average 
changes normal to females may also be reckoned. 
The Tibbies’ table follows: 


HEIGHT AGES 




15-24 

25-29 

30-34 

35-39 

40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 

Ft. 

In. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

Lbs. 

5 

0 .. 

. .120 

125 

128 

131 

133 

134 

134 

134 

5 

1 . . 

. .122 

126 

129 

131 

134 

136 

136 

136 

5 

2 . . 

. .124 

128 

131 

133 

136 

138 

138 

138 

5 

3. . 

. .127 

131 

134 

136 

138 

141 

141 

141 

5 

4.. 

..131 

135 

138 

140 

143 

144 

145 

145 

5 

5.. 

. .134 

138 

141 

143 

146 

147 

149 

149 

5 

6 . . 

..138 

142 

145 

147 

150 

151 

153 

153 

5 

7.. 

..142 

147 

150 

152 

155 

156 

158 

158 

5 

8 . . 

. .146 

151 

154 

157 

160 

161 

163 

163 

5 

9.. 

. .150 

155 

159 

162 

165 

166 

167 

168 

5: 

10 . . 

..154 

159 

164 

167 

170 

171 

172 

173 

5 

11 . . 

. .159 

164 

169 

173 

175 

177 

177 

178 

6 

0 .. 

. .165 

170 

175 

179 

180 

183 

182 

183 

6 

1 . . 

..170 

177 

181 

185 

186 

189 

188 

189 

6 

2 . . 

..176 

184 

188 

192 

194 

196 

194 

194 

6 

3. . 

. .181 

190 

195 

200 

203 

204 

201 

198 


Thus, by a comparatively simple series of 
mathematical symbols, the average or normal 
weights of healthy human beings can be indicat¬ 
ed. Even a cursory contemplation of these 
tables, however, impresses one with the fact that 
a majority of men and women do not possess 
normal physical bulk; for a survey of friends 
and acquaintances discloses few, indeed, who 
measure up to the proportions set down therein. 



Overweight 


63 


Reference to the above tabulations of aver¬ 
ages will enable any man or woman to determine 
within a very few pounds what is his or her 
proper weight. When this has been done and an 
individual is possessed of definite knowledge 
that over-weight is his portion, the next question 
logically to present itself is: “What is to be done 
about it?” 

The orthodox prescription is to eat less and 
exercise more. And, generally speaking, it is 
good advice—as far as it goes. For a proper 
rationing of food and an adequate amount of 
physical exercise are most essential to health and 
normal weight. But the difficulty with such a 
regimen is that it fails to comprehend the nor¬ 
mal individual indications which must be taken 
into consideration before any man or woman 
may safely reduce his or her weight. 

An individual dieting to achieve proper pro¬ 
portions must know something of the biologic 
significance of the process and possess sufficient 
knowledge of the effects of the nutritional vari¬ 
ations he is employing to enable him to keep a 
check on what is happening within himself. 
Otherwise he invariably diets not wisely but too 
well and decreases in vitality and vigor as well 
as in size. For a reduction in food intake cannot 
safely be prosecuted beyond minimal physiologic 
requirements. Nor can an increase in physical 



64 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


exercise be allowed to transcend individual 
tolerance. 

No department of dietetics is more cluttered 
with foolish fads and dangerous fancies than 
that which has to do with weight reduction. In¬ 
judicious dietaries, ranging from starvation 
rations on the one hand to hopelessly imbalanced 
allowances on the other, are held forth on every 
side. And in addition countless worthless 
medicines and potions are offered to inveigle the 
unwary into parting with their substance, 
pecuniarily speaking—f or money is all that they 
will lose. 

A balanced diet is necessary. “But,” some¬ 
one will say, “if heat- and energy-producing 
foods are reduced, how can a diet remain balanc¬ 
ed?” The answer is simple and obvious. Sugars 
and starches, as has already been pointed out, 
are transformed into a simple organic sugar, 
glycogen, and as such are stored up within the 
liver and muscles. Fats remain fats. Such of 
them as are not immediately oxidized are caught 
and held within the meshes of the spongy fibrous 
tissues of the body. So long as their quantity is 
augumented by further ingestion of the stuffs 
from which they are made, they are present in 
excess of body needs; and that excess continues 
to accumulate and to glut' the vital channels 



Overweight 


65 


through which the third great circulation, the 
lymphatic, should course unimpeded. 

As a matter of fact, all that is done when car¬ 
bohydrates and fats are withdrawn from the 
diet or are restricted as to amount is to force the 
body to utilize this useless reserve and to trans¬ 
form it into necessary and healthful energy and 
heat. 

Then there is the matter of exercise. It is a 
well established physiological fact that physical 
exertion heightens the metabolic rate in 
virtually every cell in the body and increases the 
oxidation of organic carbohydrates and fats. 
Thus, the dissipation of excess oxidizable tissue 
elements can be hastened materially if moderate 
exercise is added to adequate dietary modifica¬ 
tions. 

It matters little what form this physical ex¬ 
ertion takes, so long as it affects a majority of 
the muscular and fascial tissues of the body. 
Walking is perhaps the best and most universally 
effectual method of all. Calisthenics, so long as 
they are rational, are also good. Likewise skat¬ 
ing, golf, dancing, tennis, rowing and swimming 
are highly beneficial and in addition offer dis¬ 
tinct recreational features. 

Vance Thompson avers that there are at least 



66 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


one hundred alleged cures for obesity. But he 
further states that experience has proven none 
of them permanent and all of them injurious. 
And he is entirely correct. For while it is pos¬ 
sible for a fat person to rid himself speedily of 
excess adiposity by any number of violent pro¬ 
cedures, it is equally true that health is inevit¬ 
ably undermined in the process. Such methods 
do not effect a symmetrical shrinkage. They 
ruthlessly dissipate tissue fats and leave a 
shriveled, wrinkled and unsightly body clothed 
with great hanging folds of skin. 

Again, to quote the distinguished author of 
Eat and Grow Thin: 

“Excessive fat is a disease, but violent cures 
end in deadlier diseases.” 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “How to Live,” Fisher and 
Fisk; “Protein and Nutrition,” Hindhede; “What to 
Eat,” Harrow, and “Diet and Health,” Peters. 




Underweight 


67 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Underweight 


If, as was stated at the beginning of the pre¬ 
ceding chapter, overweight is but a symptom of 
other and more deep-seated difficulties, it is 
only logical to assume that underweight is like¬ 
wise an effect and not a cause, per se. 


Indeed, when considered in the light of what 
has already been said in the former connection, 
the nutritional and physical problems of the lat¬ 
ter class of cases should offer little real difficulty 
so far as their adequate solution is concerned. 


But on the other hand, due care must ever be 
exercised in reversing the foregoing processes 
of thought to suit subnormal conditions as well 
as in the application of such remedies as may be 
indicated in individual instances, for their 
etiological factors are not always directly 
antithetical. 

Perhaps the most prolific single cause of 
underweight is worry. This simple and curt 
statement of fact indicates that the ultimate 
origin of this most prevalent condition is psychic 
rather than physiologic. 

And so it is, for the fear complex, which is 
usually clothed in the sorry habiliments of 



68 


Nothing to Eat But Food, 


worry, gives rise in almost every instance to an 
unconscious neglect of physical needs which is 
in turn responsible for a progressive perversion 
of the functionings of the vegetative nervous 
system, upon which all metabolic processes abso¬ 
lutely depend for actuation and control. 

Certain organic diseases may also cause 
malnutrition and general physical atrophy. They 
do not, however, come legitimately within the 
province of this chapter and are, therefore, thus 
barely mentioned in passing. 

Consultation of the tables of average weights 
which have been set down in the previous section 
will afford an equitable basis for the estimation 
of underweight. And once the condition is 
recognized and evaluated, and the possibility of 
organic pathology eliminated from the equation, 
the question naturally arises: “What is to be 
done about it?” 

Ordinarily a simple reversal of the prescrip¬ 
tion for overweights is advised. Lean folk are 
told to eat more and to exercise less. 

The only trouble with such advice is that it 
is not practical and that it will not work. For, 
although it is true that underweights ought to 
eat more (of the right kinds of foods and in 
proper combination), it is equally a fact that 
they should not exercise less but as much if not 



Underweight 


69 


more than their obese compatriots, proportion- 
ally. 

In ninety-nine out of every one hundred in¬ 
dividuals of subnormal physical proportions, a 
vicious, although usually unrecognized, psychic 
state exists. 

The first thing, therefore, that an unnatur¬ 
ally thin man or woman must learn to do is to 
take things as they come. Worrying and fret¬ 
ting over what cannot be helped have no virtue 
whatsoever. For the small annoyances and 
greater difficulties of life are not purposeless; 
nor are they ordained simply to trouble and vex. 
Rightly understood and interpreted, they seem 
rather to be necessary incidents in the process 
of character refinement; reagents employed by 
the Infinite to cut out and destroy the dross 
within the hearts and souls of men. 

Indeed, to give undue attention to such things 
is tacitly to admit that there are serious weak¬ 
nesses of character hidden deeply within oneself. 

Fear of any description immeasurably in¬ 
creases the metabolic rate over what is normal 
and healthful. Worry tenses muscles, heightens 
blood pressure, stimulates the activities of those 
internal secretory glands whose function it is to 
produce metabolic excitants and puts the entire 



70 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


body under a continuous and most vitiating 
strain. At the same time it decreases the secre¬ 
tions of the intestinal tube, robs the entire 
alimentary tract of its characteristic and essen¬ 
tial spontaneity and diminishes its ability to 
carry waste materials to their destination for 
prompt and necessary discharge. 

By and through all of the above an incalcul¬ 
able number of calories are utterly lost and wast¬ 
ed. Very imperfect assimilation of food is the 
inevitable result. And without proper assimila¬ 
tion of nutriment it is absolutely impossible to 
gain weight. 

In this connection it is highly essential that 
all under-nourished folk get sufficient sleep. For 
sleep, as the immortal Bard of Avon hath it, 
continually “knits up the raveled sleeve of care.” 

Overweights sleep too much; underweights 
too little. All the physical and mental rest, 
therefore, that can be vouchsafed the latter is 
beneficial, for the processes of biologic repair 
and growth progress much more rapidly when 
consciousness does not interfere with them in 
any way. 

The next important step in the conquest of 
thinness is the intelligent selection and proper 
combination of the right kinds of food. All 
classes of foodstuffs should be included in such 



Underweight 


71 


a regimen, more particularly those which con¬ 
tain high percentages of carbohydrates and fats. 
The vitamine-containing materials and mineral 
salts should likewise have a prominent place in 
such dietaries. And plenty of fresh air must 
not be overlooked. 

To determine the dietetic needs of under¬ 
weights the average number of calories required 
by normal individuals of like age and occupation 
must first be ascertained. This can readily be 
done by reference to the tables found in chapter 
IV. Thereafter the requisite caloric increase 
necessary to promote a restitution of proper 
physical proportions, other things being equal, 
may easily be computed by methods outlined 
later. 

Once the daily quota of calories is known, 
the dietetic part of the treatment presents no 
further difficulties. It is simply a matter, then, 
of selecting the proper foodstuffs and taking 
them in sufficient quantities to fill the dietary 
prescription fully. 

It is well to bear in mind, further, that the 
stomach is a muscular organ and that, if the ap¬ 
petite has previously been negligible, it is un¬ 
doubtedly in a more or less contracted state. 
Dietary augmentation, therefore, may, at the 
outset, occasion some gastric distress. But 
gradual increases in amount of intake will dis- 




72 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


cipline the organ and eventually enable it to 
handle an adequate dietary readily. And with 
the resumption of normal gastric proportions 
and function appetite will return and proper 
gastronomic gratification be experienced. 

Violent muscular exercise must at all times 
be avoided by underweights, for such excesses 
promote too rapid disintegration of vital biologic 
elements and tear down the tissues more rapidly 
than they can be built up. 

On the other hand, moderate physical exer¬ 
tion is stimulating and does not vitiate. It en¬ 
courages every essential body function, partic¬ 
ularly that of elimination, and very materially 
augments appetite. Sleep comes more readily, 
also, when a healthy state of physical fatigue 
has thus been induced. 

And so it will be seen that the process of 
gaining weight is fully as involved as that by 
which obesity is dissipated; if, indeed, it is not 
more so. 

To recapitulate: 

Worry is anathema. It must ever be avoided, 
for only by the conscious acquisition of an 
equable state of mind can proper metabolism be 
assured and the adequate assimilation of nutri¬ 
tive materials insured. 



Underweight 


73 


Underweights should sleep as much as pos¬ 
sible. Complete physical and conscious psychic 
rest are essential to the reparative activities of 
Nature. 

Each individual dietary requires individual 
attention. No stereotyped series of menus will 
work satisfactorily in all cases. Each subnormal 
body is a law unto itself and must be fed accord¬ 
ing to its own peculiar requirements. 

Exercise is essential to a gain in weight. It 
must be intelligently prescribed, however, and 
never allowed to transcend the limits of indivi¬ 
dual tolerance. 

All of these factors are important. They 
must every one be put into practice and 
prosecuted religiously until the desired results 
have been achieved. 

Sleep enough; eat right; exercise a-plenty. 
But above all else—DON’T WORRY! 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “The New Dietetics,” Kellogg; 
“How to Live,” Fisher and Fisk; “Diet and Health,” 
Peters. 




74 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER IX. 

Vegetarianism 

There are about as many varieties of vege¬ 
tarians as there are kinds of Republicans or 
Democrats. All sorts and shadings of opinions 
anent the subject exist. 

On the one hand are the teetotalers, those 
misguided though zealous prohibitionists who 
would eschew all forms of animal food, milk, 
butter, cheese and eggs included. Fortunately 
for the physical health of the race, they are few 
in number and their influence is negligible. 

By far the greater number of vegetarians 
are, in practice, liberalists who partake of all 
forms of food except actual flesh. Few if any 
of the latter class, however, deliberately and dis¬ 
passionately choose their dietetic courses. 

Two main causes may be cited as responsible 
for this abstinence from meat eating. The first, 
and in America by far the more prevalent one, 
is religion. The second is the existence of 
peculiar economic conditions which, especially in 
other lands such as Japan and China, very 
largely determine the dietary practices of the 
people. 

Passing over the folk who are forced, by 



Vegetarianism 


75 


circumstances or environment, to accept an 
almost exclusively vegetable diet, there are to 
be remarked, particularly in this country, a vast 
multitude of vegetarians who abstain from eat¬ 
ing meat for a number of curious and irrelevant 
reasons: men and women whose dietetic courses 
are chosen for sentimental rather than for 
scientific motives. 

Modern research in nutritional science has 
established a sound basis for rational vege¬ 
tarianism. There is no need to call religion, 
philosophy or anything else into the equation. 
For an abundance of thoroughly substantiated 
and clinical facts may be adduced in support of 
the practice. 

On the other hand- an equally imposing array 
of reliable evidence is procurable on behalf of 
the normal mixed diet, in which animal foods 
are relied upon to supply a large part of the pro¬ 
tein necessary to maintain an adequate balance 
of nutrition. 

But it is not the purpose of this chapter to 
argue for or against vegetarianism. Rather it 
is desirable to present the main points of evi¬ 
dence and to allow the reader to arrive at his 
own conclusions without any attempt on the 
part of the writer to tincture his thinking. 

Strictly speaking, a true and consistent vege- 



76 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


tarian should abstain from all forms of animal 
food: that is to say, from flesh, milk, butter, 
cheese and eggs. The advocates of such a dietary 
invariably point to the Japanese people as ex¬ 
amples of what strict vegetarianism will do. 

As is well known, the one great staple article 
of diet in Japan is rice. But this cereal does not 
in any sense constitute the exclusive food of these 
people. For vegetables and fruits are grown in 
abundance; and fish, milk, eggs and small quan¬ 
tities of meat are regularly included in their 
menus. 

On the other hand discerning folk, scientifi¬ 
cally trained and lay alike, are coming more and 
more to realize that meat is not the indispensable 
food it was formerly considered to be. For lab¬ 
oratory and clinical experimentation have very 
conclusively proven that the average meatintake 
may safely be reduced one-half or more, so long 
as milk and eggs are freely taken. 

Planning a balanced vegetarian diet is diffi¬ 
cult and involves considerable knowledge of food 
chemistry. Indeed, no individual may safely rely 
upon a strictly vegetable dietary unless he is 
acquainted with and skilled in the scientific 
phases of nutrition. For as a class fruits and 
vegetables yield little protein and such as they 
do contain is of an inferior quality, biologically 
speaking. Relatively large quantities must be 



Vegetarianism 


77 


consumed to supply even the minimum nitrogen 
requirements of the body. And it is more than 
probable that these nitrogenous materials are 
deficient in food value, for it is a fairly well 
established fact that vegetable proteins are 
deficient in the essential amino-acids. 

Slonaker and McCollum have demonstrated 
experimentally, upon animals, that an exclusive 
vegetarian diet, unless it be arranged with con- 
sumate care, rigidly controlled and made to in¬ 
clude liberal quantities of green leafy vegetables, 
is inadequate for body needs. 

It was formerly thought that at least one 
hundred and fifty grams (five ounces) of dry 
protein per day were necessary to the mainte¬ 
nance of health and strength. This standard in¬ 
volved the consumption of at least one and one- 
half pounds of lean meat every twenty-four 
hours. 

More recently, however, Chittenden and 
other investigators have proven that consider¬ 
ably less animal food is needed. Indeed, their 
experiments have seemed to indicate that health 
is positively improved when such a reduction is 
instituted and maintained. 

The new standard set up by Chittenden is 
fifty grams (one and one-third ounces) of dry 
protein, the equivalent of about one-half pound 



78 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


of lean meat. Probably, however, this daily 
allowance is a little low, for other equally 
eminent authorities maintain that as much as 
eighty to ninety grams (in the neighborhood of 
three ounces) of dry protein may be taken with 
impunity. 

It is well, at this point, to have in mind the 
essential fact that the amount of protein requir¬ 
ed for normal metabolism is comparatively in¬ 
dependent of the physical activities of an indivi¬ 
dual. Generally speaking, about fifteen per cent 
of the total caloric intake in twenty-four hours 
should be in the form of nitrogenous foods. Any 
excess of this proportion overburdens the kid¬ 
neys, unduly taxes the liver and irritates the 
blood vessels and other vital structures. 

On the other hand, if too little is taken, the 
upward metabolism of tissue cells is materially 
interfered with. 

It is significant, therefore, to note that under¬ 
weights, especially, should keep their protein 
consumption well up toward the maximum, 
always being careful, of course, to stay within 
the safety limit. 

And by the same token, at least during the 
process of active reduction, overweights ought 
to hold down the nitrogenous part of their diets 
to a minimum, the Chittenden standard consti¬ 
tuting probably a fair criterion. 



Vegetarianism 


79 


For practical purposes it may be said that 
about one-half of all the protein foodstuffs taken 
in a day should be of vegetable origin and the 
other half animal. And, further, that the latter 
portion need not necessarily be flesh, although 
meat should have a constant place in a well bal¬ 
anced dietary. Milk, milk products and eggs all 
contain valuable and assimilable proteins; and in 
addition do not lay themselves open to the 
suspicion of harboring harmful excrementitious 
materials. 

Vegetarian leaders almost invariably main¬ 
tain that it is wrong to take life; and, therefore, 
inasmuch as meat cannot be obtained without 
killing, to eat meat. They also point out the 
ever-present possibility of edible flesh being dis¬ 
eased or harboring animal parasites. Likewise 
they assert that meat is more apt to putrify than 
vegetable foods, hence the contingency of pto¬ 
maine poisoning. Then, too, there is the idea that 
meat eating makes for viciousness of disposition. 

However that may be, it must also be re¬ 
membered that practically all vegetable protein 
is encased in cellulose, and is therefore relatively 
unavailable in diet. 

On the other hand’ Daniel and countless vege¬ 
tarians since his time have conclusively demon¬ 
strated that the proper sort of a vegetable diet 
does not detract necessarily from the physical 
strength and endurance of its advocates. 



80 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Regarding the whole matter impartially, one 
is inclined to believe that what Harrow calls a 
lacto-vegetarian diet, that is to say, a regimen in 
which milk, its products and eggs play a con¬ 
siderable part, is thoroughly wholesome and for 
the most part sufficient for the needs of the 
average human body. 

Unless otherwise contraindicated, however, 
individuals who are concerned with the gaining 
or losing of weight should pay most attention to 
their carbohydrate and fat consumption, re¬ 
membering that proteins have little to do with 
variations of physical bulk so long as their pro¬ 
portion in the diet is constant and adequate. And 
it really matters very little from whence these 
nitrogenous foods are derived, so long as they 
are wholesome and assimilable. 

Vegetarianism is distinctly beneficial and 
rational if it is neither abused nor misused. In¬ 
deed, a diet which contains no cellulose, or vege¬ 
table fiber, is insufficient except for very young 
babies; for cellulose is the ballast or bulk which 
serves as a vehicle for the transmission of the 
more concentrated foodstuffs. It also stimu¬ 
lates the digestive tube to normal activity, does 
away with constipation and gives the teeth a 
proper amount of work to do. 

Again, in judging the worth of a meat-free 



Vegetarianism 


81 


diet it is well to bear in mind that “variety is the 
spice of life” and that the golden mean is a “con¬ 
summation devoutly to be wished.” 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “What to Eat,” Harrow; 

“Food,” Fisk; “The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition,” 
McCollum; “Protein and Nutrition,” Hindhede; “What 
Shall I Eat?” F. X. Gouraud. 





82 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER X. 

Meat Eating 

Geography has played a very important part 
in the determination of the diet of man from the 
beginning of history and before. Human beings, 
like other animals, have always been prone to 
eat what they can obtain most easily. Therefore, 
although not so much the case as formerly, it 
may still be said that one’s habitat has much to 
do with one’s dietary. 

Down through the ages the flesh of animals, 
fish and fowls has constituted a major article of 
human diet. And there is a fundamental reason 
for this fact. 

Vegetation varies with locality. It is con¬ 
trolled very largely by seasonal changes. Lower 
animal life' on the other hand, does not present 
nearly the same degree of fluctuation. For it is 
an unquestioned biologic fact that the fauna of 
the world is much more equitably apportioned 
throughout the globe than its flora. 

For instance: in the northland vegetation is 
sparse and the natives of those desolate regions 
are meat eaters of necessity. 

In the more temperate zones the winter sea¬ 
sons, notwithstanding modern transportation 



Meat Eating 


83 


and storage facilities, deplete the vegetable re¬ 
serve so that the inhabitants must have continual 
recourse to animal foodstuffs for sustenance. 

Only in the tropics, where vegetation is 
plentiful and meat relatively scarce is to be found 
a natural inclination toward vegetarianism. And 
even there the native peoples incline by choice to 
meat eating, although vegetable foods are to be 
had for the taking and animals must be hunted 
and their meat quickly and more or less 
laboriously prepared or preserved. 

In modern nutritional science it is the nitro¬ 
gen-bearing foods which have caused most con¬ 
troversy. This is due to the fact that proteins 
are the only nutrient elementals which can re¬ 
pair and build tissues. 

Two main questions have been raised in this 
conection. The first has to do with amount; 
the second with source. 

The conclusions of reliable and eminent 
authorities with regard to the former have been 
presented in the preceding chapter; the consen¬ 
sus of expert opinion being that from fifty to 
ninety grams (one and one-half to three ounces) 
of dry protein are necessary to meet the daily 
needs of the average healthy adult body. In 
fact, food chemists and nutritional scientists are 
pretty well agreed upon these limits. 



84 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


The matter of source, however, is not so 
equitably established; for there are almost as 
many ideas regarding the proper origin of nitro¬ 
genous foods as there are individuals interested 
in the subject. 

Vegetarians as a class disparage the inclusion 
of animal proteins for a variety of more or less 
dissociated reasons which have already been set 
down. 

Advocates of meat eating, on the other hand, 
present an equally imposing array of arguments 
for their side of the controversy. They main¬ 
tain, for instance, that the matter of killing is 
no valid objection for all of life is ordered on the 
basis of “the survival of the fittest.” They say, 
further, that a simple, thorough inspection serv¬ 
ice will prevent the distribution of diseased or 
parasitic meat, and that even if an occasional 
unwholesome portion does reach the consumer, 
thorough cooking will render it innocuous. 
Furthermore, that the irritant products of tissue 
metabolism found in edible flesh are adequately 
and promptly abstracted and excreted by the 
liver, intestines and kidneys; that proper han¬ 
dling and moderation will obviate the danger of 
ptomaine poisoning; and that there is no evi¬ 
dence to prove that meat eating, unless carried 
to an unreasonable extreme, has anything to do 
with the disposition whatsoever. 



Meat Eating 


85 


Thereto they add the unanswerable argument 
that animal protein is infinitely more assimilable 
than vegetable; that at least ninety-seven per 
cent of it is appropriated by the digestive ap¬ 
paratus because of the fact that it is animal; 
and that for this reason it is very much the pref¬ 
erable type of nitrogenous food. 

Fisk likens the proteins to building bricks. 
He says: 

“The very high protein or repair foods (meat, 
fish, eggs and fowl) should be eaten once a day. 
The rest of the repair material needed will be 
found in sufficient quantity in the balance of the 
diet. Muscular labor, which increases the need 
for fuel (calories) does not materially increase 
the need for bricks or proteins. It is a mistake 
to think that eating meat gives special strength 
for work. Starchy foods, fat and sugar, are the 
great sources of working force. To burn meat 
for fuel is like burning mahogany or rosewood 
for kindling wood or burning wood that is full 
of bolts and nails, or covered with mortar.” 

This estimate of the value of animal proteins 
in diet is fairly representative. Most authorities 
now believe that meat is an indispensable article 
of diet but that it must be taken in moderation 
and with due regard to body requirements. 

That eminent dietitian, Tilden, who, despite 



86 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


his very obvious radical tendencies, is an author¬ 
ity to be reckoned with, has this to say: 

“People have been taught that it is extremely 
harmful to eat much meat, but they have not 
learned that it is but little less harmful to over¬ 
eat of eggs, baked beans, cheese or nuts. They 
have been made to believe that they are ‘on a 
diet’ when they eat no meat. It is a physician’s 
business to understand all foods as much as pos¬ 
sible, not as a faddist, nor as a fanatic, but as a 
rational being able to render the greatest good to 
the greatest number.” 

The latter sentence is especially significant. 
For present purposes it might be amended to 
read “It is everybody’s business etc.—,” for no 
man or woman can achieve and maintain proper 
weight without such knowledge. 

As a class, animal foods are easily digested 
and contain little indigestible residue. Their 
nutritive elements are very perfectly absorbed. 

The chief objection to meat eating, from a 
purely scientific standpoint, is that it does not 
provide sufficient roughage to maintain proper 
and normal intestinal activity, owing to its lack 
of indigestible bulk. 

Taken in excess, animal foods clutter the sys¬ 
tem with a surplus of nitrogen-bearing materials 



Meat Eating 


87 


which, although not harmful in and of them¬ 
selves, are unnecessary to the processes of 
biologic growth and repair and therefore are 
in the way and capable of harmful disintegra¬ 
tion unless speedily eliminated. The need for 
the excretion of such an excess in turn throws 
an abnormal burden upon the organs which have 
to do with the disposition of waste, and is liable 
to overwhelm them if continued indefinitely. 

Furthermore, it is a well established fact that 
the presence of too much protein in the body 
tends to encourage, after a time, its utilization 
as fuel, so that in the end such an excess actually 
heightens metabolism. As a result more food is 
required to maintain biologic balance than if the 
proper fuel-foods, the carbohydrates and fats, 
were burned exclusively. 

Pattee sums up the comparative values of 
animal and vegetable diets in a very consise and 
lucid manner: 

“An animal diet is concentrated and easily 
digested. If the animal foods taken are eggs and 
milk, no serious objection can be raised against 
them, except that they lack bulk. The food is so 
fully absorbed that the large intestine has no 
stimulus to action and no material for its muscles 
to act upon, and serious complications are likely 
to arise from constipation. If the animal food 
is largely meat it is undesirable, not only for the 
reason above mentioned, but because excessive 



88 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


quantities of nitrogenous extractives are taken, 
which are likely to cause uric acid disorders and 
other disturbances, and also because important 
mineral salts are lacking (such as calcium, which 
carnivorous animals get by eating bone); and 
because the acids formed from the protein 
(phosphoric and sulphuric) tend to deprive the 
body of salts already in the tissues. 

“A strict vegetable diet, on the other hand, 
while free from these objections, is necessarily 
very bulky, owing to the high percentages of 
water and cellulose, and to the fact that extra 
allowance must be made because it is less per¬ 
fectly absorbed. Unless special care is taken, a 
vegetable diet is also likely to be low in protein. 
Legumes and nuts must form a considerable part 
of the dietary to provide this. When eggs, milk 
and milk products are added to the vegetable 
foods, the diet becomes mixed, and these objec¬ 
tions no longer hold. 

“An ideal diet contains a mixture of animal 
and vegetable foods, so that protein, fat, carbo¬ 
hydrate and mineral matter are supplied in 
proper proportions and in available forms, and 
sufficient bulk is offered for proper intestinal 
action.” 

Taking all of these things into consideration, 
it may be said that overweights should eat a 
minimum of animal foods, staying within the 



Meat Eating 


89 


limits of physiologic demand, and their dietaries 
should contain a maximum quantity of fruits 
and vegetables, more especially those leafy 
varieties of the latter which are low in food value 
but which contain mineral salts, water and 
cellulose in abundance. 

Underweights, on the other hand, should 
partake freely of animal proteins, being careful 
not to exceed their predetermined maximum 
allowance, and in addition thereto eat heartily 
of carbohydrates and fats, as well as of fresh 
fruits and vegetables, particularly the starchy 
varieties. 

From the foregoing it will be concluded that 
meat eating, per se, is injurious only when in¬ 
dulged in unwisely and without due regard to 
biologic requirements. Meat is an essential food. 
It is only part of fundamental nutriment, how¬ 
ever. Therefore it must be combined with other 
articles of diet into a balanced ration. And when 
this is done, it can only make for health and 
strength. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Food,” Tilden; “Food,” Fisk; 
“Practical Dietetics,” Pattee; “What to Eat,” Harrow; 
“Protein and Nutrition,” Hindhede. 




90 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER XI. 


Fasting 

Fasting is one of the oldest therapeutic ideas 
in existence. Although first practiced as a 
religious rite, there is historical and legendary 
evidence to support the belief that the early 
priesthood of the race understood something of 
its sanatory significance and enjoined its observ¬ 
ance for other than spiritual reasons. 


At any rate, subsequent experience has 
proven guarded starvation to be a most potent 
weapon with which to combat disease, other 
things being equal. 

In order that its biologic import may be fully 
comprehended from the outset’ the following 
table of estimated tissue losses occurring in 
death after starvation, quoted by Dewey from 
Yeo, is given: 


Fat. 

Muscle . 

Liver. 

Spleen. 

Blood . 

Nerve centres 


97 per cent 
30 per cent 
56 per cent 
63 per cent 
17 per cent 
0 per cent 


From this it will be seen that the brain and its 
tributaries continue intact until the last and re¬ 
tain the inherent power to maintain their nutri- 









Fasting 


91 


tion unimpaired, although every other tissue has 
wasted beyond repair; and that the blood, even 
in the most extreme of cases, does not show 
extraordinary depletion. 

Such physiologic facts would seem to argue 
that nerve and blood supply throughout the body 
are virtually normal during a fast. And that 
the human body is, in reality, a veritable organ¬ 
ization of assimilable food elements dominated 
by a self-maintaining intelligence which is ca¬ 
pable of preserving relative structural integrity 
and physiologic functional balance even when all 
food is withheld for considerable intervals. 

This discussion is not concerned with the 
therapeutic possibilities of fasting, however, ex¬ 
cept insofar as the process affects weight con¬ 
trol. But it is entirely apropos to point out in 
passing that the measure possesses tremendous 
remedial potency. For fasting is truly a nat¬ 
ural remedy. As such it is entitled to the 
thoughtful consideration of every conscientious 
physician and informed layman. 

As has already been intimated, overweight, 
except when due to distinct organic disease, is 
the result of over-eating. All excess carbohy¬ 
drates and fats are stored away in the latter 
form within the meshes of the interstitial tissues 
of the body. As time goes on and this accumula- 



92 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


tion increases, the contours of the figure begin 
to bulge, the skin stretches and obesity becomes 
the order of the day. 

Now then, by referring back to Yeo’s table, 
it will be seen that fat suffers the heaviest 
casualties when food is voluntarily or otherwise 
withheld. Almost twice as much of it is utilized 
to keep up body energy as of any other tissue. 
And, since this primordial is the worst offender 
in overweight, it is only right that it should be 
penalized most severely in the return to nor¬ 
malcy. 

Although, generally speaking, a symmetrical 
reduction of rations by means of a careful esti¬ 
mation of the caloric value of constituent food¬ 
stuffs is the most successful treatment for 
obesity, there are many, many times when total 
abstinence is desirable. 

In all cases evincing a disruption of metabolic 
balance, particularly those in which there is 
marked and obvious retention of waste materials 
and a more or less profound auto-intoxication, 
fasting will re-establish proper physiologic 
functioning all along the line more quickly than 
any other measure. 

Nature, if given a chance, affords the safest 
criterion in the matter. But civilization has im¬ 
posed so many utterly false standards of nutri- 



Fasting 


93 


tion upon the race that she is generally too great¬ 
ly handicapped to set the limits of individual 
intake successfully. 

Especially is this true in the case of fat folk. 
For overweights are almost invariably “good 
feeders.” Constitutionally and in every other 
way, they have the dietetic cards stacked against 
them, so to speak. 

To initiate a fast, therefore, requires consid¬ 
erable will power and a thorough appreciation of 
the benefits to be derived therefrom. But there 
is no question of satisfactory results if the fast¬ 
ing is properly conducted and as properly termi¬ 
nated. 

For practical purposes, the salient technical 
features of the rational starvation treatment for 
obesity are outlined. 

The individual who fasts must abruptly leave 
off eating and abstain thereafter from taking 
anything but water. Two or three quarts of 
pure water may be ingested daily and no ill 
effects are experienced if it is sipped slowly and 
held in the mouth for insalivation before swal¬ 
lowing. 

Each day during the fast two enemas should 
be taken, one in the morning and the other at 
night, at as nearly the same time in each instance 



94 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


as possible. Thus two bowel actions are insured 
every twenty-four hours. Although a seeming 
impossibility, it is a fact that the excretion of 
feces will continue until the end of the period, 
regardless of how long it is prolonged. Stools 
naturally become progressively smaller; but they 
keep on coming. 

At the outset the tongue may be quite clean. 
Within a few days, however, it becomes coated 
and furred and about this time the body begins 
to evince an extremely offensive odor. These 
symptoms of marked eliminatory activity con¬ 
tinue until a normal metabolic balance has been 
re-established, when they spontaneously dis¬ 
appear. 

With their cessation comes the time to break 
the fast. This is a rather delicate procedure 
and somewhat dangerous unless done in exactly 
the right way. 

The best way to begin is to take one small 
glass of unsweetened orangeade’ sipped very 
slowly and each sip “chewed.” The first three 
“meals” should consist of nothing more. Then 
light broths may be added. A soft-boiled egg 
comes next; then a few stewed prunes (without 
sugar). Gradually thereafter green and other 
vegetables may be taken; then a little chicken; 
some fish; and finally meat. 

After the fast is broken, the diet should be 




Fasting 


95 


regulated to promote a gradual decrease in 
weight until normal proportions are attained. 

When these have been achieved, a proper 
maintenance diet must be determined and strict¬ 
ly adhered to. 

From the foregoing it might be concluded 
that fasting is beneficial only in cases of obesity. 
Such, however, is not the case; for many mal¬ 
nourished individuals are profoundly constipat¬ 
ed and the victims of a decided auto-intoxication. 

For underweights the fast need not be pro¬ 
longed to the degree indicated in obesity, but it 
should be persisted in long enough to allow Na¬ 
ture a chance to prosecute a very thorough 
house-cleaning. Thereafter it may be broken in 
the usual manner and the dietary gradually 
augmented to proportions consistent with a 
steady gain in weight. 

The primary object of a fast is to restore 
nutritional balance. And the practical value of 
the procedure is that it works equally well for 
both over- and underweights. No fat or lean 
person can achieve normal proportions until his 
body is capable of promptly assimilating the 
right amount of nourishment. Thus fasting 
may be regarded as a highly beneficial pre¬ 
liminary to the main bout. Indeed, a reduction 
or gain in weight is much more easily achieved 



96 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


if the dietary modification is preceded by an 
equitable period of total abstinence from food. 

Fast, therefore, until every vestige of the old 
perverted nutritional order is done away with. 
Then turn confidently toward a happier and 
healthier future, secure in the knowledge that 
the old man, with all of his dietetic foibles has 
been forever relegated to the kindly past, never 
more to vex nor to annoy. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Food Fundamentals,” Bean; 
“The No-Breakfast Plan and the Fasting Cure,” Dewey; 
“Food,” Tilden. 





Exercise 


97 


CHAPTER XH. 

Exercise 

Exercise alone will not reduce overweight. 
Physical exertion, no matter how violent, has 
little or no permanent effect in obesity. 

Intemperate activity, on the other hand, 
usually aggravates underweight and more than 
offsets the biologic advantages of an augmented 
dietary. 

There is, however, a proper prescription of 
activity for overweights and another for under¬ 
weights, for rational exercise is ever an import¬ 
ant factor in any weight-control program. This 
is true not because fat is burned up in the former 
instance nor in spite of it in the latter, but for 
the reason that physical activity is an essential 
and natural prerequisite of normal health in any 
case. 

Every tissue in the body requires the physio¬ 
logic stimulation which only physical exercise 
can supply. The entire system is in constant 
need of such excitation. The vital organs, 
muscles, bones, the nervous system—all are 
benefited by it. Indeed the prime characteristic 
of untrammeled life IS activity. 

The most important single factor in the re- 



98 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


duction of weight is the establishment of an ade¬ 
quate dietary regimen and strict adherence 
thereto. To reduce weight by means of diet 
alone, however, does not always vouchsafe a 
complete restoration of normal physical appear¬ 
ance: for, lacking incentive to shrink as the un¬ 
derlying adipose tissues waste, the skin is apt to 
remain atonic, become wrinkled and to present 
an unsightly, sagging appearance. 

As a matter of fact, fat is gradually replaced 
by rounded, solid muscles, the texture of the skin 
refined and the figure rendered symmetrical and 
shapely only when exercise supplements suitable 
dietetic restrictions and modifications. 

In exercising to reduce weight the abdominal 
muscles require most attention. At the beginning 
they are relaxed, flabby, their interstitial tissues 
heavily impregnated with fat and generally 
atonic. 

Many varieties of gymnastics are recom¬ 
mended for obesity which have no possible basis 
in anatomic or physiologic fact. Indeed, the 
common forward-bending maneuvers such as 
forcing flexion until the fingers touch the floor, 
are absolutely wrong in principle and practice; 
for it will readily be seen that in these move¬ 
ments the fattened belly wall and abdominal con¬ 
tents are bunched together and pressed down- 



Exercise 


99 


ward’ thus resulting in a progressively increas¬ 
ing sag in front and inside. 

Such forms of exercise stimulate only the 
back muscles, which are already overworked and 
tense from their struggle to maintain balance in 
the face of overmuch weight in front. 

Common sense is a good criterion in this mat¬ 
ter as in all others. Almost any moderately 
vigorous kind of activity will assist in weight re¬ 
duction, especially those types which call into 
action the muscles of the waist and abdomen. 

The following exercises are especially bene¬ 
ficial in this connection. In addition thereto long 
walks, outdoor games and recreational sports 
should be indulged in as often as possible. 

1. Lying on the back upon a hard, level sur¬ 
face such as the floor, with the fingers clasped 
behind the head, bring the legs up to vertical 
with the toes pointed upward; then lower them 
slowly. This should be repeated until moderate 
fatigue is induced. Each day the number of 
times the maneuver is performed may be in¬ 
creased. There is no arbitrary limit 

2. Stand with feet apart and arms extended 
straight out from the shoulder and twist the 
torso rapidly from side to side. The arms should 



100 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


be held rigid and not allowed to sweep forward 
during this exercise. 

3. Clasp the fingers behind the head. Stand 
firmly upon one foot and lift the other, with knee 
straight, to an angle of about forty-five degrees 
with the trunk. Then allow the knee to bend to a 
right angle with the leg and thereafter straight¬ 
en it without allowing the foot to touch the 
floor. Do this a dozen times; then bring the 
other knee up and repeat. 

4. With feet planted firmly together, hold 
the arms directly over the head and bend the 
trunk quickly from side to side; at least twenty- 
five times to begin with. 

5. Lie upon the back with the fingers inter¬ 
locked behind the head and legs extended 
straight with the feet and knees together. Begin 
by bending the knees and carrying the legs to 
the right as far as possible, then up onto the ab¬ 
domen. Lower the limbs in the same fashion 
and then, without touching the floor bring them 
up on the left and down again in a similar man¬ 
ner. Do this ten or a dozen times. 

6. Squat down so that the palms of the hands 
may be placed flat on the floor. Kick backward 
with each foot alternately a dozen times or so. 

In conjunction with these exercises deep 



Exercise 


101 


breathing should invariably be practiced. Prob¬ 
ably the best way to increase pulmonary capacity 
and at the same time to develop the thorax is as 
follows: 

Stand with one foot comfortably in front of 
the other. Hold the arms straight out at the 
sides. Slowly bend the head and shoulders back¬ 
ward, meanwhile holding the waist straight. 
Exhale with extension and inhale deeply as the 
upper part of the body is brought upright again, 
at the same time endeavoring to expand the 
chest as much as possible. 

Another respiratory exercise of much value 
is to bring the arms upward and forward from 
the sides and at the same time to inhale forcibly, 
thereafter lowering them backward and down¬ 
ward to the sides during exhalation. 

These various movements should be learned 
and practiced consistently each day. They are 
physiologically and anatomically correct, rhyth¬ 
mic and harmless. Used in conjunction with 
other and more recreational forms of activity, 
they will very quickly and positively promote 
weight reduction and increase physical health 
and well-being. 

By the same token, underweights may derive 
quite as much benefit from the right sort of 
exercise as overweights. Nature is never static. 



102 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


She is either progressing or retrogressing all of 
the time. 

The secret of normal biologic growth and of 
the integrity of each physiologic process is 
spontaneity of function. This - in turn, depends 
upon normal use: that is to say, adequate exer¬ 
cise of every part. Proper activity, therefore, 
is absolutely necessary to the maintenance of 
that metabolic balance upon which normal 
weight depends. 

Thus it may be logically argued that under¬ 
weights should exercise fully as much as over¬ 
weights in order that the processes of their nu¬ 
trition, involving appetite, assimilation and ex¬ 
cretion, may be stimulated and kept normally 
active. 

Despite the fact that such activities usually 
occasion a slight loss of weight at first they 
should be persisted in, along with an intelligently 
augmented dietary, until proper proportions 
have been attained. Thereafter, modified to 
meet maintenance requirements, such exercises 
should be habitually practiced for the purpose of 
promoting and insuring prompt and normal 
physiologic functioning in every part. 

Any calisthenic regimen, moderately indulg¬ 
ed, is suitable for the underweight. The exer¬ 
cises outlined for obesity, less rigorously per- 



Exercise 


103 


formed, will answer. The main thing is to insure 
the physical activity, every day, of each muscle 
and group of muscles in the entire body. 

Walking, swimming, rowing, golf, tennis, 
horseback riding and all such sports are decided¬ 
ly beneficial. 

Deep breathing must not be forgotten, for it 
is as important a factor in this connection as in 
the other. An undernourished individual ought 
to stop at least once every waking hour, no mat¬ 
ter where he is or what he is doing, and for a few 
moments inhale and exhale slowly and forcibly. 
For it is impossible to take too much fresh air 
into the lungs, other things being equal; and 
oxygen is one of the most important articles of 
food in the entire category of nutrition; if, in¬ 
deed, it is not the most essential. 

Exercise plays a material and constant role 
in weight control. It must be taken into ac¬ 
count, for without its beneficial influences prop¬ 
er physical proportions, contours and health 
cannot be achieved nor maintained. It is good 
alike for hot heads, cold feet, pot-bellies, round 
shoulders, straight spines and all of the other 
unnatural physical and psychic accoutrements 
of fat folks and lean. 

And finally, to paraphrase Macbeth's well- 
remembered observation, it may appropriately 



104 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


be remarked in this connection: now good diges¬ 
tion wait on exercise, and health on both . 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Athletic Training,” Murphy; 
“Manual of Personal Hygiene,” Cooke; “Keeping in 
Condition,” Moore; “The Care of the Body,” Wood- 
worth; “Diet and Health,” Peters; “Therapeutics of 
Activity,” Gour. 


srfi 




How to Reduce 


105 


CHAPTER XIII. 

How to Reduce 

In the light of all that has already been set 
down anent the subjects, it would almost seem 
that this and the succeeding chapter were un¬ 
necessary. A careful reading, however, will 
demonstrate them to be extremely valuable as 
practical guides and for purposes of admonition, 
helpful reiteration and desirable emphasis. 

It has been shown conclusively that most 
overweights are victims of obesity for three out¬ 
standing reasons. They lack gastronomic self- 
control; they eat too much of the wrong kinds of food; 
and they exercise too little. 

Obviously then, three remedies are needed to 
correct the condition: will-power, an adequate di¬ 
etary and proper physical activity. 

Of the three the first is most important, 
for without it the other two are impossible. 
Dr. Peters, in her admirable Diet and Health, 
remarks: “Somehow, will power with a layer of 
fat on it gets feeble.” And there is a world of 
truth in her statement; for weight control is, 
in the last analysis, almost entirely a matter of 
self control! 

Abnormal adiposity is a burden; it is a nui- 



106 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


sance; and it is distinctly dangerous. An idea of 
how biologically harmful it is may be gotten at a 
glance from the following table, prepared from 
statistics published by a number of great Ameri¬ 
can life insurance companies: 


Pounds 
Overweight 
5 ... . 
10 .... 
15 .... 
20 .... 
25 .... 
30 .... 
35 .... 
40 .... 
45 .... 
50 ... . 
55 .... 
60 .... 
65 ... . 

70 . 

75 .... 
80 .... 


Increased Mor¬ 
tality Percentage 

. 10 

. 12 

. 18 

. 22 

. 26 

. 32 

. 40 

... .49 

. 55 

. 60 

. 65 

. 71 

. 78 

. 85 

.. 92 

. 100 


These figures indicate that the mortality rate 
increases rapidly with the degree of overweight. 
And they are most conclusively attested by the 
known pathological tendency of tissues heavily 
impregnated with fat to undergo degenerative 
changes. The heart especially is susceptible to 
such destructive modifications. 

First and foremost in a successful weight-re¬ 
duction program is the will to put it into practice. 



















How to Reduce 


107 


Rigid discipline at the outset renders the acquisi¬ 
tion of such a state of mind possible: for eating 
is more or less a habit. And psychologists de¬ 
clare that habits may be broken or modified as 
occasion demands, providing reason and the 
proper emotional forces are given command of 
the situation. 

At first the denial of those gastronomic de¬ 
lights responsible for obesity assumes gigantic 
proportions and life scarce seems worth the liv¬ 
ing. A pampered stomach and perverted appetite 
are most difficult to reason with and to control. 
But once they are given to understand thorough¬ 
ly that right is right and that man does not live 
to eat but eats to live, they very rapidly adjust 
themselves to the new order of things and 
become normal and well behaved. 

Once the proper frame of mind has been 
established, the next step is to determine the 
number of calories needed daily for each pound 
of normal weight. To calculate these require¬ 
ments it is necessary to know one’s proper 
weight. This may be ascertained by reference 
to the height-weight tables given in Chapter VII 
or by the following methods: 

Multiply the number of inches over five feet 
in height by 5^ and add 110. For instance: 



108 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


height five feet, eight inches in stocking feet— 
51 / 2 x 8 = 44 
110 

Proper weight—154 

If under five feet reverse the formula and 
multiply the number of inches under five feet 
by 5!/2, substracting the result from 110, thus: 
height four feet, six inches— 

110 

51 / 2 x 6 = 33 
Proper weight— 77 

Immediately after the war Pirquet, the 
famous Austrian pediatrist, advocated the dis¬ 
carding of the calorie as a unit of nutrition and 
introduced his “NEM” system of feeding, for 
children especially. 

The term “NEM” is derived from the initial 
letters of the words “nutrition,” “element” and 
“milk.” It is the equivalent of one cubic centi¬ 
meter (one one-thousandth of a quart) of milk. 

The Pirquet system is based upon three hypo¬ 
theses: 

1. That there is a constant relationship be¬ 
tween the sitting height of an individual and his 
weight. This may be expressed mathematically 
by the following formula: 

10 x Weight _ 10Q 


(sitting height) 8 




How to Reduce 


109 


The above representation, interpreted, means 
that if a person is in normal health ten times his 
weight divided by his sitting height, cubed, will 
equal exactly or nearly 100. 

If the result is below 100—say 90 to 95, the 
individual is assumed to be underweight; if over 
that mark—105 to 110—obesity obtains. 

2. The next assumption in the Pirquet sys¬ 
tem is that there is also a mathematical relation¬ 
ship between the sitting height and the area of 
the absorptive surface of the digestive tube. The 
square of the former is held to equal the latter. 

3. Finally, Pirquet maintains that an indi¬ 
vidual requires one “NEM” for each square 
centimeter of intestinal absorptive surface. Thus 
the total number of “NEMS” needed in any given 
case may be calculated from No. 2. 

This method of calculating nutritional re¬ 
quirements, fantastic as it may seem, offers a 
basis for a reasonable regimen of testing and 
feeding. And, in the dietetic care of infants and 
children, it is rapidly proving itself unsurpassed 
for efficacy and ease of operation. 

Clinical experimentation has shown that 
adults require from fifteen to twenty calories 
per pound per day, depending upon the degree of 
physical activity involved in their accustomed 
tasks. 



110 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Thus, if the normal weight of an individual 
who weighs two hundred pounds is one hundred 
and fifty-five pounds, his daily intake should 
not, under any circumstances, exceed 20x155 or 
3100 calories. Indeed, it is better to discount 
this maximum allowance forty or fifty per cent 
at first. 

However, so long as the total number of 
calories taken does not exceed the above hmit, 
any desired food may be eaten. It is well to re¬ 
member, though, that high-calorie foodstuffs are 
usually more or less concentrated; and that the 
less nutritious varieties are more bulky, will 
just as effectually appease the cravings of an 
outraged stomach and at the same time promote 
prompt intestinal functioning. 

If more rapid decrease in weight is desired, 
still further reductions may be instituted. Twelve 
to fifteen hundred calorie days are quite suffici¬ 
ent for the maintenance of strength and permit 
surprisingly generous portions, providing food 
is chosen with discrimination. Of course, under 
such a regimen hunger will be intense at first. 
But if restricted dietaries are persisted in the 
body will soon become accustomed to dietetic 
curtailment and offer no further protest. 

In this connection it is well to remark that the 
stomach of a “good feeder” is invariably distend¬ 
ed and in need of shrinking: for, having been 



How to Reduce 


111 


subjected to repeated stretchings, the organ 
finally loses its normal muscular tone and 
becomes greatly enlarged. 

The best way to shrink a stomach is to keep 
food out of it for a few days. Such treatment 
is seemingly drastic; but at the same time it is 
highly effectual and entirely beneficial. For 
this reason, as well as to afford Nature an op¬ 
portunity to clean house, an initial fast is most 
certainly indicated in every case of obesity. 

A short period of total abstinence from food 
involves no danger, gives little discomfort, and 
brings wonderful results. It gives Nature a 
chance. And there is no better way to start a 
thing of this sort right than to give the only real 
physician and true ultimate healer full sway 
from the beginning. 

The matter of exercise has already been dealt 
with in sufficient detail. It is important and 
must neither be neglected nor ignored, for body 
physiology requires physical activity. If the 
requisite amount of exertion is lacking, meta¬ 
bolic balance is disrupted and nutrition per¬ 
verted or impaired. 

Another factor in the etiology of obesity is 
not so well known nor understood. It is the os¬ 
teopathic lesion. 



112 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Very frequently the joints between the verte¬ 
brae related to the nerves entering into the 
physiologic mechanisms which control and 
actuate the nutritional processes of the body— 
digestion, absorption, assimilation, drainage, ex¬ 
cretion and elimination—become lesioned: that 
is to say, they lose their capacity for unrestricted 
and essential movement in every characteristic 
direction. This immobility, by means of in¬ 
tricate but thoroughly established and experi¬ 
mentally identified reflexes, immediately be¬ 
comes a disturber of metabolic balance. Its ef¬ 
fect is cumulative, so that the longer the lesioned 
condition persists, the worse the nutritional im¬ 
balance becomes. 

Overweights ought always to assure them¬ 
selves that the functional states of their verte¬ 
bral columns are unimpaired. Diet and exercise 
will avail little so long as such potent perverters 
of metabolism are allowed to operate in such 
close proximity to the vital nutritional centers. 

Only those physicians who are skilled in the 
great science and art of osteopathy are suffici¬ 
ently expert to pass judgment here. For osteo¬ 
pathic lesions are not gross dislocations of verte¬ 
brae, as some of the counterfeit physio-thera¬ 
peutic cults declare. They are minute variations 
in the physical function of spinal joints, and are 
characterized by immobility or partial restric¬ 
tion of those joints. The X-ray will not disclose 



How to Reduce 


113 


them, usually. Neither will visual observation 
discover them. Only the sensitive and highly 
trained finger-tips of the physician are delicate 
enough to determine their presence. 

Under no circumstances ought weight be lost 
too rapidly. The initial decline which follows 
the first drastic cut in rations or the fast is salu¬ 
tary and harmless. Thereafter a reduction of 
two or three pounds a week is sufficient. For 
the human body is somewhat cannibalistic when 
denied its accustomed nutritional supplies; and 
the heart, kidneys and liver invariably suffer if 
weight is dissipated too rapidly. 

To reduce one’s weight requires some pro¬ 
hibitions in diet. However, there are so many 
legitimate and allowable gastronomic delights 
to which the dieter has access and in which he 
may indulge freely that he has every reason for 
cultivating the “I may” attitude and outlook 
rather than for sulking in the shadows of a 
lugubrious “I may not” code. 

In PART II a tempting array of splendid and 
delicious menus and recipes has been provided. 
Examination of their variety and dietary attrac¬ 
tions will convince the most skeptical that weight 
reduction and control are, after all, more a mat¬ 
ter of state of mind than of corporeality; and 
that it is just as easy to eat right and grow thin 
as it is to eat wrongly, at the dictation of a per- 



114 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


verted appetite, and as a penalty carry about an 
ever increasing bulk of harmful and disease- 
inviting fat, accumulated through brutish and 
senseless indulgence. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Food,” Fisk; “What to Eat,” 
Harrow; “Practical Dietetics,” Pattee; “Diet and 
Health,” Peters; “Eating for Health and Efficiency,” 
Alsaker. 





How to Gain 


115 


CHAPTER XrV. 

Hov? to Gain 

The problems of the underweight are not, 
primarily, the problems of diet. Right eating 
indubitably enters into the equation, to be sure; 
but in a vast majority of cases the condition is 
due almost entirely to mental unrest and faulty 
elimination. Indeed, worry and constipation 
conspire most often against the nutritional in¬ 
terests of such individuals. 

Of course, there are those paradoxical folk 
who possess healthy appetites, eat enough, and 
yet who seemingly grow thinner by the process. 
Such people, however, unless they are the vic¬ 
tims of organic metabolic disturbances or play¬ 
ing unwilling hosts to animal parasites, are usu¬ 
ally normal and well-nourished but thin by na¬ 
ture. They ought never to attempt unduly to 
force themselves to gain in weight. 

Thinness is not necessarily a sign of disease 
nor of physical disorder. As a matter of fact, 
so long as an underweight possesses an equitable 
temperament, has a good appetite, eliminates 
body wastes promptly and completely, and feels 
well, there is no reason for him to be concerned 
even if his weight does not correspond exactly to 
the figures in the tables given in chapter VII. 



116 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Indeed, the influence of underweight is not 
nearly so dangerous to health and life as that 
of overweight. Fisk gives the following ac¬ 
tuarial table showing how underweight affects 
expectancy: 

AGES: 45 to 49 

HEIGHT: 5 ft. 7 in. to 5 ft. 10 in. 

(Height and weight taken with coat and vest off, and 
with shoes on) 

Under the Average 
Weight 

5 lbs.3% lower death-rate than average weight 

10 lbs. 4 % lower death-rate than average weight 

15 lbs.5% lower death-rate than average weight 

20 lbs.5% lower death-rate than average weight 

25 lbs.4% lower death-rate than average weight 

30 lbs.3% lower death-rate than average weight 

35 lbs.2% lower death-rate than average weight 

40 lbs.0 mortality of average weight 

45 lbs.3% higher death-rate than average weight 

50 lbs.6% higher death-rate than average weight 

These figures are taken from accurate and 
well authenticated life insurance statistics and 
represent the tabulated, average findings of a 
large number of medical examinations. They 
seem to prove that, while there is no such thing 
as favorable overweight, from an insurance 
standpoint, there may be an innocuous under¬ 
weight. 


On the other hand, it must always be borne 













How to Gain 


117 


in mind that there is nothing quite so desirable 
as the normal in weight as in all else. Proper 
physical proportions are best. And, inasmuch 
as a very large majority of unnaturally thin 
people can, with a little thought and intelligent 
effort, add materially to their bulk and incalcul¬ 
ably to their physical vigor and mental content¬ 
ment, they owe it to themselves to make a serious 
and consistent attempt to do so. 

Probably the most important word an under¬ 
weight can incorporate into his vocabulary and 
make a part of his daily living is relax. Mental 
stress and needless worry are invariably char¬ 
acteristic of such folk. Nor is this psychic tur¬ 
moil always consciously discerned; for when 
long indulged it becomes innate and instinctive. 
But it is a most constant and undesirable factor 
in the equation just the same. 

Let each abnormally thin person contemplate 
the situation seriously, and then study himself 
in a mirror. Almost without exception he will 
exclaim, as did Edmund Yates: 

“My face. Is this long strip of skin 
Which bears of worry many a trace, 

Of sallow hue, of features thin 

This mass of seams and lines, my face?” 

Dr. Peters, in her chapter entitled The De¬ 
luded Ones—My Thin Friends, says: 



118 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


“The first thing many of you have to do is 
to accept the trivial annoyances and small mis¬ 
fit of life as a matter of course, for to give them 
attention beyond their deserts is to wear the 
web of your life to the warp.” 

As heretofore intimated, worry tenses mus¬ 
cles, raises blood pressure, abnormally stimu¬ 
lates the glands of internal secretion, depresses 
intestinal activity, discourages assimilation and 
makes possible a leakage of hundreds of calories 
daily. 

To initiate a consistent gain, an underweight 
must first know definitely how much he lacks of 
being normal. This information may be gotten 
readily from an examination of the height- 
weight tables set down elsewhere. Thereafter 
he must keep himself thoroughly posted as to 
his progress throughout the entire campaign for 
proper physical proportions. Reference, once or 
twice a week, to a pair of accurately balanced 
scales will supply these advices. The Health-o- 
Meter is a reliable, accurate instrument and well 
suited for home use. 

Once the degree of his subnormality is estab¬ 
lished, the next proceeding is to determine the 
caloric requirements of a normal body of the 
same height. This may be accomplished by ap¬ 
plying the fifteen to twenty calories per pound 



Hoiv to Gain 


119 


standard, or the Pirquet system in the cases of 
children. 

For instance: if the normal weight of an in¬ 
dividual who weighs one hundred and twenty is 
one hundred and forty pounds, his bare main¬ 
tenance diet should yield at least 15 to 20 x 140— 
2100 to 2800 calories daily. Under no circum¬ 
stances should any day’s dietary supply less than 
that number of energy units. 

But it must be borne in mind that a normal 
maintenance diet will not promote a gain in 
weight. Therefore, until proper physical pro¬ 
portions have been attained, at least five hun¬ 
dred calories must be added every twenty-four 
hours for good measure; a thousand are better. 

The kinds of food most beneficial to under¬ 
weights vary with individuals. Generally speak¬ 
ing, it may be said that any wholesome dietary 
is permissible so long as it is diversified, bal¬ 
anced and digestible. Carbohydrates, fats and 
mineral matter are decidedly indicated and 
should predominate in such a regimen. Protein 
rations, however, must be adequate and in no 
case allowed to fall below 10% of the daily total. 
An ideal diet is thus proportioned: 


PROTEIN .10% 

FAT.25% 

CARBOHYDRATES.65% 






120 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Plenty of pure water and an abundance of 
essential roughage must be added thereto. 
Sufficient mineral matter is ordinarily derived 
from milk, green vegetables and fruit. 

At the outset the stomach of an underweight 
is probably contracted and in need of mechanical 
stretching. This may be easily accomplished by 
progressively augmenting the dietary. Such 
additions should be persistently taken, even if 
the stomach at first protests and gastric distress 
ensues. For the organ, being muscular, is in 
such cases subject to a sort of disuse atrophy. It 
may, however, be trained and exercised and its 
normal capacity and tone thereby restored if it 
is properly handled. 

Oftentimes a total fast of several days’ dura¬ 
tion is indicated as a most salutary introduction 
to a weight-gaining program. For, paradoxical 
as it may seem, complete abstinence from food 
allows the body to readjust itself, thoroughly to 
flush its eliminatory channels, and puts it in 
condition to handle the nutritional increases im¬ 
posed upon it readily and without embarrass¬ 
ment. 

Exercise also plays an important part in a 
restoration of proper bulk. It operates as a 
beneficial stimulant to all physiological proc¬ 
esses. And best of all, physical activity, mod- 



How to Gain 


121 


erately indulged, makes possible and encourages 
the prompt and complete ejection of all meta¬ 
bolic waste products. Indeed, it encourages ap¬ 
petite and excites every vital organ to normal 
function. 

Underweights require plenty of sleep. That 
“lean and hungry look” is the product of too 
little repose. Eight or nine hours out of every 
twenty-four should be dedicated to Morpheus. 
For slumber heals the ravages of the restless, 
irksome, work-a-day grind and vouchsafes to 
Nature an opportunity for repairing the dam¬ 
age wrought by care. 

In the last analysis, however, right eating 
is almost always the real secret of weight-gain. 
And Owen Meredith sums up the idea most ad¬ 
mirably when he sings: 

"We may live without poetry, music and art; 

We may live without conscience, and live without 
heart; 

We may live without friends; we may live without 
books; 

But civilized man cannot live without cooks. 

He may live without books,—what is knowledge but 
grieving? 

He may live without hope,—what is hope but de¬ 
ceiving? 



122 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


He may live without love,—what is passion but 
pining ? 

But where is the man who can live without dining ?” 

BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Diet and Health,” Peters; 
“Food,” Fisk; “What to Eat,” Harrow; “Eating for 
Health and Efficiency,” Alsaker. 




The Maintenance Diet 


123 


CHAPTER XV. 

The Maintenance Diet 

After an individual has decreased or in¬ 
creased in weight to the point of normalcy, there 
yet confronts him the problem of the mainte¬ 
nance diet. Many, many people have persisted 
in their practice of weight control until they 
have achieved proper physical proportions; and 
then, because they were ignorant as to the prop¬ 
er method of maintaining themselves at normal, 
imperceptibly but surely slipped back again to 
their former status. 

To effect an adequate reduction or gain in 
weight is not enough. Life is never static. Na¬ 
ture either progresses or retrogresses. Physio¬ 
logic and nutritional balance are matters of in¬ 
telligent maintenance secured and insured by 
conscious attention to their daily requirements. 

Therefore, after the measures outlined in 
previous chapters have been put in force for a 
sufficient length of time to bring weight up or 
down, as the case may be, and one’s physical 
bulk made to correspond as nearly to the ideal 
for his height as possible, the rule of “just 
enough” must be invoked and kept incessantly 
operative. For if this is not done, sooner or 
later, and with an insidious unostentatiousness, 
the former abnormal state will most surely re- 



124 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


cur; and then there is the whole thing to do 
over again. 

The maintenance diet is a positive preventive 
of over- and underweight. It is a part of 
prophylactic medicine, thoroughly wholesome 
and utterly natural. It is the secret of right 
living—the password to the plus life. 

So exact and invariable are the available cal¬ 
culations of nutritional scientists and experts 
that any average, healthy and intelligent indivi¬ 
dual may, with little effort and no privation, 
keep his weight virtually stationary and con¬ 
sistent at all times with his height and age. 

The key to nutritional maintenance is com¬ 
mon sense. No elaborate formulae nor expen¬ 
sive dietaries are required. Only the exercise 
of a modicum of attention to dietetic requisites 
is demanded. 

Moderation is the prime characteristic of a 
successful maintenance diet. And such temper¬ 
ance implies not too much nor too little, but 
exactly enough. Underweights as well as over¬ 
weights are guilty of incontinence in eating. 
Most subnormal individuals eat too much of the 
wrong and not enough of the right kinds of food. 
Indeed, nearly all so-called constitutionally thin 
folks are as prone to overeat as are those indi¬ 
viduals afflicted with obesity. 



The Maintenance Diet 


125 


Dio Lewis has most admirably emphasized 
this idea in the following words: 

“We are guilty of it (overeating) not occa¬ 
sionally but habitually, and almost uniformly, 
from the cradle to the grave. It is the bane 
alike of our infancy and youth, our maturity 
and age. * * * Our stomachs are the scapegoats 
which must bear all our physiological delin¬ 
quencies and save us the pain of blaming our¬ 
selves.” 

And Horace, that soverign philosopher of 
ancient Rome, declared, in one of his inimitable 
satires: 

“There is a mean in all things; and, more¬ 
over, certain limits on either side of which right 
cannot be found.” 

The primary function of food is to supply 
the body with building and energy-yielding ma¬ 
terials. Nutritive substances serve other and 
essential ends as well; but their chief use is to 
provide sustenance and motivation. Therefore, 
proper nutrition demands adequacy, balanced 
proportioning and assimilability. 

A successful maintenance diet is not gov¬ 
erned by prohibition but by positive selection. 
Its watch-word is: “Thou shalt,” always; never 
“Thou shalt not!” 



126 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


To determine an adequate dietary for nor¬ 
mal sustenance, it is again necessary to refer to 
the height-weight tables and to calculate the 
requisite caloric total by applying the fifteen 
to twenty calorie per pound rule. In children 
and pre-adolescents the Pirquet system may also 
be made use of very effectually. 

Once the proportions of this ration are estab¬ 
lished, the next step is to become familiar with 
the caloric values of the simpler and more ac¬ 
cessible foods. For it is not always possible to 
eat at home where ready reference may be had 
to such tabulated information. 

The following equivalents ought to be learn¬ 
ed first of all in this connection. 

One teaspoon holds approximately 1-6 of an 
ounce, fluid; a dessertspoon, 1-3 of an ounce; a 
tablespoon % of an ounce; and an ordinary tea¬ 
cup 8 ounces. Two tablespoonfuls of cooked 
foods will weigh about one ounce. 

Thereafter this general table of calories per 
ounce of ordinary foodstuffs should be memoriz¬ 
ed and referred to at every meal: 

Bread. 75 C 

Cheese, cream.100 C 

Cheese, cottage. 30 C 

Cream.50 to 100 C 

(Depending upon thickness) 







The Maintenance Diet 


127 


Eggs. 40 C 

Fats. 255 C 

Fish. 40 C 

Fruits .25 to 100 C 


(Depending upon sweetness) 


Meats, lean. 50 C 

Milk, whole. 20 C 

Milk, skim. 10 C 

Milk, sweetened and condensed.100 C 

Milk, unsweetened and condensed. 50 C 

Nut meats.200 C 

Sugar .115 C 

Vegetables, starchy and leguminous, 20to35 C 

Vegetables, watery and leafy.5 to 15 C 


Any doubt as to the fuel value of any common 
food may be dispelled quickly by referring back 
to the complete tables found in Chapter V. In¬ 
deed, if one has the time and ability to learn 
these tabulations verbatim, the problems of the 
maintenance diet are further and greatly sim¬ 
plified. 

Other things being equal, it is always better 
to undereat a little than to overeat. For, if a 
proper nutritional balance is attained and main¬ 
tained, if the eliminatory needs of the body are 
met without hindrance, and if sufficient physical 
activity is indulged in, serious discrepancies in 
weight cannot complicate the business of living, 
even though one’s diet is more or less abstemious. 

Indeed, the whole matter is really as simple 
as A, B, C. The problems of the maintenance 















128 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


diet are plain arithmetical propositions in ad¬ 
dition and subtraction. For if two plus two 
always equals four, it is obvious that nothing but 
two will round out the total four in the face of a 
constant subtraction of its equivalent. Neither 
one nor three will suffice: two is the requisite 
number and alone possesses the mathematical 
qualities necessary to complete the sum and 
yield the expected answer. 

By the same token: if 2000 calories daily are 
needed to sustain an individual of a certain 
height at his normal weight, neither 1000 nor 
3000 calories will answer. A dietary calculated to 
yield 2000 calories, no more and no less, will 
alone provide a proper maintenance ration. And 
thus it will be seen that precise calorie computa¬ 
tion is essential and really all that is necessary 
in this connection. Nor is such a process unduly 
difficult to carry out. 

To use a figure: in the analogous world of 
finance, no matter how involved the process, 
parties to business transactions are always will¬ 
ing to figure interest charges and other costs 
to the last mill; for fairness and caution are 
the standards by which all honest deals are 
judged, and constitute the only equitable basis 
of enduring business satisfaction. 

And it is exactly the same in matters of diet 
If men and women who do not possess proper 



The Maintenance Diet 


129 


physical proportions will give as much thought 
and attention to the equalization of weight as 
they do to other matters of far less import, the 
health of society will be vastly improved thereby 
and the plus life indeed come into its own. 

Humankind owes itself a careful conserva¬ 
tion of its physical as well as its material as¬ 
sets. And nothing so surely insures such thrift 
as a normal manner of existence. For normalcy 
is the key to a long life and a happy one. 

And finally, again to quote Horace, that 
ancient apostle of the golden mean and com¬ 
mon-sense poet of Imperial Rome: 

“The consummate pleasure (in eating) is not 
in the costly flavour, but in yourself. Do you 
seek for sauce by sweating ?” 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Diet and Health,” Peters; 

“What to Eat,” Harrow; “Food Fundamentals,” Bean; 
“Eat and Grow Thin,” Thompson. 




130 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER XVI. 

General Dietary Conclusions 

Virtually all human beings are endowed with 
a tenacious capacity for life. There are, to be 
sure, innumerable weaklings born into the world 
in whom the spark of life is too feebly kindled to 
persist but fitfully and for a season. A very 
great majority of individuals, however, have 
inherited every right to and expectation of nor¬ 
mal growth and abounding maturity, of a long 
life and a happy one, providing they are vouch¬ 
safed proper nourishment and prompt elimina¬ 
tion all along the way. 

There is no possible excuse for the present 
infant mortality rate. Countless little ones are 
sacrificed every year upon the infamous altar 
of Ignorance. Improper nutrition, perpetual 
poisoning by retained toxins and the other lurk¬ 
ing ravagers of babyhood make the first few 
years of life precarious indeed. And it is a 
fact that if a human being can retain his hold 
upon the vital essence which first gave him be¬ 
ing until the age of puberty is passed, his chances 
for normal expectancy are excellent, other 
things being equal. 

Dietetic perversions begin at birth and are 
the constant companions of the rank and file of 



General Dietary Conclusions 


131 


folk until the end. Most mothers, aided and 
abetted (to their everlasting shame let it be 
said!) by most physicians, feed their children 
not wisely, but too well. Practically every baby 
in Christendom and elsewhere, barring economic 
emergencies and extremities, is overfed. “Too 
much” and “too often” are the real standards 
of infant feeding in this day and age. 

It is little to be wondered at, therefore, that 
practically every male and female of the species 
gives evidence, from childhood onward, of deep- 
seated metabolic imbalance. Happily these 
nutritional disturbances are not usually exten¬ 
sive nor severe enough to give rise to actual dis¬ 
ease. For the most part they are manifested 
by too much or too little weight—the former 
condition preponderating. 

Food serves one legitimate biologic purpose 
and one only. It supplies building and repair 
material to the body, with a proportionate ex¬ 
cess allowance during infancy, childhood and 
adolescence to provide for the requirements of 
normal growth. 

There is no more excuse for perpetually feed¬ 
ing the human body too much than there is for 
overloading and choking the home heating plant 
continually with a surplus of fuel. Neither 
machine can deliver a maximum of normal serv¬ 
ice under such conditions. 



132 


Nothing to Eat But Food, 


Any rational system of diet, then, should be 
conceived and brought to completion in one idea 
—MODERATION. And when men and women 
learn that they cannot eat either too much or too 
little and “get away with it”—that normal body 
weight depends upon just enough of the right 
kinds of food, day in and day out—the biggest 
problem in the process of averaging and equal¬ 
izing human weight will have been solved. 

To eat just enough food is not the simple pro¬ 
cedure it appears to be. And therein is the ex¬ 
planation for the failure of so great a majority 
of the much press-agented dietaries for weight 
control recently placed upon the market. The 
proponents of these systems, almost without 
exception, have failed to grasp the idea that each 
human body is absolutely a law unto itself so 
far as its nutritional needs are concerned, and 
that there can therefore be no blanket prescrip¬ 
tions in diet. They have not or will not take 
into serious account the “rule of the individual.” 

To be sure, general rules and wholesale rec¬ 
ommendations are essential to 1 the science of 
personal nutrition. But unless they are, without 
exception, interpreted and applied in the light of 
individual indications, they can have little or no 
influence upon the weight-ratio of any given 
human body. 

By carefully studying the metabolic reactions 



General Dietary Conclusions 


133 


of thousands of people, nutritional experts have 
compiled a fairly reliable series of tabulated 
averages. These tables indicate the probable 
weight for a given height, age and sex consider¬ 
ed. Actuarial statistics further set forth the 
probable expectancies of overweights and under¬ 
weights as compared with those of individuals 
of normal weight. Infinitely exacting labora¬ 
tory and clinical research has also provided a 
system of more or less accurate indicators as to 
the daily caloric needs of each type of person. 
But all of this amassed information is utterly 
valueless unless it is modified to suit individual 
requirements and practically applied as personal 
variations indicate. 

Thus, only the individual himself, in counsel 
with his physician, can finally determine what 
he should eat and how much. Indeed, rational 
weight control is possible only when practiced 
as a means to an end and not when regarded as 
the end in and of itself. That is to say: weight 
control is not the summum bonum of diet. The 
main thing is to re-establish and to maintain a 
proper metabolic balance so that intake will 
practically equal outgo and all of the processes 
of anabolism and catabolism be kept active and 
correlated. For the science of nutrition is not 
potential; it is kinetic. And weight is kept at 
par only by the precise maintenance of a nice 
balance between supply and demand. 



134 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


So far as has yet been determined, the caloric 
standard for individual computation is by far 
the most accurate and practical method by which 
personal needs may be ascertained. While the 
Pirquet procedure has undoubted value in the 
feeding of children, it has not been sufficiently 
developed to be applied with any degree of satis¬ 
faction to the nutritional problems of the adult. 
For modem ideas of diversified diet do not per¬ 
mit the clinical estimation of sufficient NEM 
equivalents to make it practicable in the latter 
connection. 

Almost any individual of ordinary in¬ 
telligence can, by following the very simple rules 
laid down in this book, determine for himself his 
nutritional status. And once he knows whether 
he is over- or underweight, all that remains for 
him to do is to find out from the tables how 
many calories are required to maintain him at 
his normal weight. Thereafter it is a simple 
matter of addition and subtraction—of count¬ 
ing the calories at each meal and of seeing to it 
that no day’s total intake exceeds a predetermin¬ 
ed limit. 

Of course, the same number of calories will 
not yield the same amount of energy in every 
case, for the physiological mechanism of indivi¬ 
dual digestion varies within comparatively wide 
limits. But a little attention to minor changes 
up or down the scale will turn the trick and make 



General Dietary Conclusions 


135 


possible a steady return to proper physical bulk; 
after which the proportions of an adequate 
maintenance diet may be ascertained and such 
a regimen adhered to. 

It must always be borne in mind, however, 
that many cases of obesity and underweight are 
due to organic disease. Therefore, if diet, de¬ 
liberately and carefully supervised, does not 
speedily restore normalcy when combined with 
prompt elimination, proper rest and adequate 
exercise, there is but one thing left to do, and 
that right quickly: to have a competent and 
scientific diagnostician find out what is the mat¬ 
ter and rectify the trouble. 

No class of physicians is better fitted, by 
training and tradition, to elicit the etiology in 
these obscure cases than the osteopathic school. 
That is not to say that medical doctors do not 
know the signs of such pathology, for they do. 
But it is to emphasize the fact that the osteopath 
has not only had all of the didactic and clinical 
advantages vouchsafed to medical students, but 
that he has, in addition, been trained in the exact 
art of physical diagnosis much more thoroughly 
than has his allopathic compatriot. 

Osteopathy is founded upon the fundamental 
premise that the human body is an intricate 
machine, self-actuated and self-controlled. It 



186 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


recognizes three natural laws as fundamental to 
all existence, growth and repair. 

The first is that eternal principle by which 
the physical states of the human mechanism are 
ordered: that natural provision which underlies 
the geometric and functional precision of the 
mechanical contrivances by which the body 
machine is enabled to move and conduct its 
objective activities. 

The second is that decree which regulates the 
chemical reactions of metabolism and correlates 
the sum total of tissue changes, from assimila¬ 
tion through elimination. 

The third controls those incessant, intricate 
and intangible psychic activities by which all of 
the vegetative phenomena of life are initiated 
and controlled and all voluntary actions directed. 

The requirements of cold logic demand that 
the physical vehicle within which chemical and 
psychical processes take place must first be cor¬ 
rectly adjusted within itself and properly related 
to its environment. Therefore the osteopathic 
physician holds that the physical structure of the 
human body must be perfectly adjusted before 
the chemical and psychic activities which are 
carried on within that structure can be right. 
He does not for an instant lose sight of nor 
neglect the chemic or psychic phases of life. But 



General Dietary Conclusions 


137 


he does make very sure, first of all, that the 
purely mechanical aspects of the organism to 
which he ministers are correctly correlated in 
function, and then proceeds to alter the chemical 
intake of that organism as occasion demands and 
to direct and divert its psychic activities into 
healthful and constructive channels. 

Thus, finally, and by way of conclusion, it 
may be said that the secret of weight control is 
this: EAT LESS OR MORE THAN IS RE¬ 
QUIRED AT FIRST, AS THE CASE MAY BE 
AND UNTIL NORMALCY HAS BEEN 
ACHIEVED; AND THEN EAT JUST 
ENOUGH FOR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS! 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Food,” Fisk; “Diet and 

Health,” Peters; “Eat for Health and Efficiency,” 
Alasker; “What to Eat,” Harrow; “Origin of Spices,” 
Charls Darwin; “Food,” Tilden. 





138 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


PART II. 

CHAPTER 1. 

Measurements and Weights 

Success in any scientific undertaking depends 
upon accuracy of estimation more than upon any 
other single factor. The “rule of thumb” cannot 
and will not answer. Precision is essential above 
all else. 

One philosopher has observed: “The scien¬ 
tific man knows why; the practical man knows 
how; the successful man knows both.” 

In the realm of weight control this aphorism 
is especially significant. Facts alone will not 
suffice. Nor is it enough simply “to go through 
the motions.” Both phases must be equally com¬ 
prehended, exactly correlated and practically 
applied. 

This section of the book has been carefully 
designed to serve as an entirely useful and usable 
handbook of everyday nutrition. The “why” 
of weight control and its tenable theories have 
already been set forth. There is no need, there¬ 
fore, to go further into the purely scientific as¬ 
pects of this important branch of dietetics. 


On the other hand, although NOTHING TO 



Measurements and Weights 


139 


EAT BUT FOOD is not a cook book in any sense 
of the word, the writer has endeavored to pro¬ 
vide suggestive chapters replete with practical 
and appetizing menus and recipes culled from a 
rather extensive experience with the practical 
application of this phase of nutritional science. 

Every one of the combinations and dishes 
outlined has been thoroughly tested and bears 
the unqualified stamp of scientific approval. 
Therefore those individuals whose duty and 
privilege it is to prepare the food of men and 
women struggling with the problems of active 
weight control or of the maintenance diet may 
confidently serve any of the culinary delights de¬ 
scribed hereafter, for they have every one been 
amply proven in practice. 

However, in order that the preparation of 
the recipes in Chapter 3 of this section may be 
attended by consistent and invariable success, 
a brief discussion of the ordinary standard im¬ 
plements and scales of kitchen mensuration is 
wholly apropos. And so the fundamental weights 
and measures and certain comparative quantita¬ 
tive expressions are here set down for the guid¬ 
ance of cooks and dietitians who really care. 

A TABLE OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


4 saltspoons.1 teaspoon (tsp.) 

3 teaspoons.1 tablespoon (tbsp.) 





140 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


4 tablespoons.*4 cup (c.) 

5 tablespoons (liquid).1 wineglassful 

16 tablespoons.1 cup 

2 cups.1 pint 

2 pints.1 quart 

4 quarts.1 gallon 

2 tablespoons butter (solid).1 ounce 

1 tablespoon butter (melted).1 ounce 

4 tablespoons flour.1 ounce 

2 tablespoons granulated sugar.1 ounce 

2 tablespoons of liquid.1 ounce 

4 cups sifted flour.1 pound 

2 cups butter (solid).1 pound 

2 cups meat (chopped and packed solid). . 1 pound 

2 cups granulated sugar.1 pound 

2 2/3 cups powdered sugar.1 pound 

2 2/3 cups brown sugar. 1 pound 

2 2/3 cups oatmeal.1 pound 

9 to 10 eggs.1 pound 

1 cup rice.1 pound 

1 square bitter chocolate.1 ounce 

1 cup bread or cracker crumbs.2 ounces 


This simple tabulation provides a general 
standard by which practically all raw materials 
may be accurately measured for cooking. A pair 
of well-balanced scales should be in every kitchen 
cabinet, however, so that exact computation may 
be had as required. 

All dry substances such as meal, flour, sugar, 
etc., should be thoroughly sifted before measur¬ 
ing. Spices and other materials having a tend¬ 
ency to become lumpy should be stirred and care¬ 
fully pulverized before using. 
























Measurements and Weights 


141 


Ingredients measured by the teaspoon or 
tablespoon are always measured level with the 
top of their container. When a spoon has been 
filled it should be precisely leveled with a 
straight-edge. 

To measure one-half a spoonful, first take a 
spoonful and cut it lengthwise through the 
middle, thereafter discarding one of the halves. 

For a quarter-spoonful, measure one-half of a 
spoonful and then section it crosswise, cutting 
nearer the handle of the spoon than its tip. 

Solid fats should be packed tightly in the 
measuring container and then exactly leveled 
with a knife. When a recipe calls for a fat, 
melted, measure before melting. Conversely, 
when a melted fat is ordered, measure always 
after melting. 

A standard measuring cup contains exactly 
one-half pint. It is usually divided into fourths 
and thirds. 

A cupful of dry material is measured level 
with the brim. A heaping cupful contains ap¬ 
proximately two tablespoonfuls more than just 
a cupful. And if by the same token, two table¬ 
spoonfuls are taken from the latter amount, a 
scant cupful is left. 

All dry ingredients should be put into the 



142 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


cup by the spoonful and care taken not to shake 
or unduly jar the measure in the process. 

Co-operation between the cook and the one 
cooked for is a highly desirable factor in suc¬ 
cessful weight control. It is not always pos¬ 
sible, of course, to obtain it when one is com¬ 
pelled to eat at a restaurant or boarding house. 
But in all cases where an overweight or under¬ 
weight lives at home, mutual interests and affec¬ 
tion will always make the conquest of abnormali¬ 
ties of bulk comparatively easy. And those less 
fortunate individuals who are compelled to eat 
hither and yon may offset the lack of personal 
interest on the part of the purveyors of their 
food by being scrupulously careful in the count¬ 
ing of their calories: overweights taking care to 
overestimate their portions and underweights 
vice versa. 

It is not necessary to call attention again to 
the tables of caloric values of common foods, 
although it is extremely important, from a 
weight control standpoint, to measure the 
energy-potential of everything one eats accur¬ 
ately and with as much care as is given to the 
physical estimation of raw materials in cookery. 

And thus it appears that weight control is, 
in the last analysis, a matter of applied mathe¬ 
matics. Precision in the computing of dietaries, 
plus accuracy in the preparation of individual 



Measurements and Weights 


143 


dishes, controlled always by intelligent personal 
consumption will, except in those rare cases 
where deep-seated organic disease is present, 
quickly force physical bulk down or up to nor¬ 
mal proportions and keep it there indefinitely. 

Many other pertinent facts might be set 
down in this connection. Enough has been said, 
however, to insure accurate mensuration of ma¬ 
terials. And that is as much as the chapter 
ostensibly contemplates. 

And as for the larger significance of what 
has been set down, it is sufficient again to quote 
that sterling old Roman philosopher, Horace, 
who remarks: 

“Every man should measure himself by his 
own standard!” 


BIBLIOGRAPHY: “Practical Dietetics,” Pattee; 
“Diet and Health,” Peters; “Food Fundamentals,” 
Bean. 




144 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER II. 

Suggested Menus 

The menus outlined in this chapter are as 
different as they are practical. While apparent¬ 
ly liberal they have been carefully computed on 
a caloric basis and are dependable. They have 
been thoroughly tested and proven consistently 
effectual in over six thousand cases. 

Of necessity only a very few of the infinite 
number of possible combinations have been set 
down. A sufficient variety of them have been 
recorded, however, to make further intelligent 
and satisfactory selection possible and easy. 

The arrangement of the dietaries is simple 
and easily comprehended. The first grouping 
provides MENUS FOR REDUCING and out¬ 
lines a seven days’ schedule for each of the four 
seasons. The latter part of the chapter has to 
do with MENUS FOR GAINING and is similar¬ 
ly arranged. 

Without question the most outstanding fea¬ 
ture of these menus is their practicality and the 
accessibility of their constituents. They are 
most economical, appetizing and satisfying. And 
every one of the foodstuffs involved may be 
secured from the average neighborhood grocery 
or market. 



Menus for Reducing 


145 


No overweight or underweight need suffer 
the pangs of privation or of repletion. All that 
is required is that each shall eat the proper types 
of food and in adequately balanced rations. 
These menus show the way. 



MENUS FOR REDUCING 

(These outlines are suggestive, only. They 
may be followed to the letter, of course. But it 
is very much better to employ them as general 
patterns and to vary their specifications to suit 
individual tastes. Common sense is the greatest 
leveler of physical as well as of intellectual dif¬ 
ferences. It should be made use of liberally as a 
condiment in these connections.) 



146 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THE WINTER MONTHS 

(December, January, February) 

it 

(Recipes given for dishes marked *) 

SUNDAY 
% & 

Breakfast 
1 Large Orange. 

2 Small Slices Thinly Buttered Toast. 

1 Cup Coffee or Postum (1 tbsp. cream; 1 tsp. sugar). 

% 

Dinner 

1 cup consomme (or other unthickened broth) 

1 average helping chicken with cranberry sauce 

2 tbsp. creamed peas (bread may be substituted here) 

Combination salad * Fruit 

Coffee or tea (clear or as above) 

% % 

Lunch 

1 cup whole milk 


2 slices bread 


6 stewed prunes 



Menus for Reducing 


147 


MONDAY 
its % 

Breakfast 

y 2 large grapefruit 2 small slices bacon, crisped 

1 bran or cornmeal muffin 
1 cup coffee or Postum (as in menu 1) 

its its 

Luncheon 

Lettuce and egg salad (diet dressing) * 

1 slice whole wheat bread or roll scantily buttered 
1 cup custard 

its its 

Dinner 

6 raw oysters with cocktail dressing 
Average helping roast beef with pan gravy 
1 small baked potato Cold slaw 

1 glass cold skimmed milk of 1 cup hot coffee or tea 
1 medium apple 



148 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


TUESDAY 

Breakfast 

3 tbsp. stewed raisins 
3 tbsp. Grapenuts with milk (no sugar) 
1 cup coffee or postum 

& & 

Luncheon 

Stuffed eggs (not more than 1) 

1 cream cheese sandwich (toasted) 

1 glass skimmed milk (hot or cold 


& & 


Dinner 


Y 2 chilled grapefruit 


.1 broiled lean pork chop 


Spinach salad * Creamed carrots 


1 slice gluten bread 


Vanilla junket with wafers 


1 cup coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


149 


WEDNESDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 

Milk toast (2 slices toast; 1 cup hot skimmed milk) 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

£ £ 

Luncheon 

2 tbsp. creamed chipped beef on 1 slice toast 
Celery and apple salad * 1 small piece of apple pie 

1 glass skimmed milk 

£ £ 

Dinner 

1 cup clam bouillon 
Average helping broiled beef steak 
Mashed turnips Cabbage salad * 

1 slice white bread thinly buttered Apple sauce 

1 cup coffee or tea J 



150 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THURSDAY 

Breakfast 

1 baked apple (2 tbsp. cream; 1 tsp. sugar) 

% cup Post's Bran with skim milk (no sugar) 

1 cup coffee of cereal coffee 

% % 

Luncheon 

Stewed tomatoes (without bread or crackers) 

1 poached egg 1 crisp roll (no butter) 

1 glass skimmed milk 

% & 

Dinner 

Medium sized fruit cocktail 
Average helping leg of lamb with mint sauce 
Steamed parsnips 1 slice gluten bread, thinly buttered 
Lemon Jello, plain 
1 cup coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


151 


FRIDAY 
Breakfast 
6 stewed figs 

2 tbsp. oatmeal with % cup whole milk 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

£ 

Luncheon 

Sauerkraut with diet dressing 
2 slices N. B. C. zwieback (no butter) 

1 small piece fruit pie 
1 glass skim milk or buttermilk 

& & 

Dinner 

1 cup tomato bouillon Olives and celery 

Broiled whitefish 

2 tbsp. mashed potatoes Combination salad * 

Orange and pineapple sauce 1 cookie 

1 cup coffee or tea 



152 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SATURDAY 
Breakfast 
1/2 grapefruit 

2 tbsp. cream of wheat with cup whole milk 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

£ % 

Luncheon 

Oyster stew (% doz. in whole milk) 

4 salted crackers String bean salad * 

K % 

Dinner 

Raisin Cocktail * 

Baked beans (with lean pork) Cottage cheese 

% rye-crisp wafer Fruit salad 

1 cup coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


153 


THE SPRING MONTHS 

(March, April, May) 

SUNDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 


1 whole wheat waffle with 2 tbsp. syrup (no butter) 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 


£ £ 

Dinner 

Celery hearts, 4 ripe olives 


Roast fowl or game 
Beet salad * 


Crab meat cocktail 

Parsnips and onions 


Spiced fruit with unsweetened wafers 
1 cup coffee or tea 

£ £ 

Lunch 

2 glasses whole milk 



154 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


MONDAY 

Breakfast 

1 glass chilled grapefruit juice (unsweetened) 

2 thin slices dry toast 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Average helping minced ham and scrambled egg 
Steamed asparagus tips 1 crisp roll without butter 
Fruit Jello (no sugar) 

£ & 

Dinner 

Cold spinach in sour milk 
Boiled corned beef with cabbage 
Head lettuce with diet dressing 
1 slice zwieback without butter 
Fruit water ice Coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


155 


TUESDAY 

Breakfast 

6 stewed prunes (without sugar) 

1 soft-boiled egg 1 slice thinly buttered toast 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon (stewed tomatoes, corn, peas, 
mashed potatoes, spinach and string beans— 

2 tbsp. of each) 

1 slice gluten bread 
1 glass buttermilk 

ig % 

Dinner 

Clam chowder Young onions and radishes 

Broiled beef tenderloin with chili sauce 
Vegetable salad * Stewed peaches 


Coffee or tea 



156 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


WEDNESDAY 

Breakfast 

1 ounce seedless raisins (uncooked) 

1 breakfast roll (without butter) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Veal stew with vegetables 
1 small square corn bread 
1 glass skimmed milk 

& & 

Dinner 

Cottage cheese on lettuce 2 salted wafers 

Hamburger steak with onions 
Chopped beet salad * 1 slice white bread (no butter) 

Coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


157 


THURSDAY 

Breakfast 

% grapefruit (no sugar) 

1 shredded wheat biscuit with i/ 2 cup skimmed milk 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

MS MS 

Luncheon 

Combination salad with 1000 island dressing 
2 slices dry toast 

1 glass buttermilk or skimmed milk 
MS MS 

Dinner 

Celery and queen olives 

2 small lamb chops Spinach with lemon 

1 small toasted biscuit (no butter) 

Compote of stewed fruit (unsweetened) 

Coffee or tea 



158 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


FRIDAY 

Breakfast 

2 medium sized figs (uncooked) 

2 tbsp. creamed fish flakes 1 slice dry toast 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& ^ 

Luncheon 

Tomato soup (clear) 

2 salted wafers 

2 tbsp. baked beans with tomato sauce 
Steamed carrots 

vz & 

Dinner 

Orange cocktail (unsweetened) 

Salmon steak (broiled or baked) 

Beets with peppers *4 rye-crisp wafer 

Celery salad * Peach sauce 

Coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


159 


SATURDAY 

Breakfast 

Fresh or canned berries (no sugar) 

1 breakfast roll (no butter) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

1 steamed egg 

1 slice dry toast 1 small piece fruit pie 

1 glass skimmed milk 

X & 

Dinner 

1 cup consomme (clear) 

Roast mutton 1 small baked potato 

Cauliflower and red pepper salad * 

1 slice gluten bread, thinly buttered Fruit 

Coffee or tea 



160 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THE SUMMER MONTHS 

(June, July, August) 

SUNDAY 

Breakfast 

10-12 strawberries with 4 tbsp. cream 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

% % 

Dinner 

Crab meat cocktail 

Roast sirloin of beef String beans 

Stewed tomatoes Carrot salad * 

Fruit water sherbet 
Coffee or tea (hot or iced) 

& £ 

Lunch 

1 glass chilled orange juice 



Menus for Reducing 


161 


MONDAY 

Breakfast 

1/2 large chilled canteloupe 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Vegetable soup 

Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers 
1 cold beef sandwich (toasted) 

1 glass iced tea 

& % 

Dinner 
Iced bouillon 

Chicken salad (boiled diet dressing) * 
Bermuda onion (sliced on lettuce leaf) 

1 slice gluten bread Orange Jello 

Coffee or tea (hot or iced) 



162 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


TUESDAY 

Breakfast 

4 tbsp. stewed rhubarb (sweetened with saccharine) 

2 slices dry toast 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Cold roast pork (lean) Apple sauce 

Asparagus tips with boiled diet dressing 
*4 rye-crisp wafer 
1 glass buttermilk 

as as 

Dinner 

Radishes and young onions Spanish omelet * 

Molded spinach Corn salad and cheese sticks * 
Raspberries (no cream or sugar) 

Iced coffee or tea 



Menus for Reducing 


163 


WEDNESDAY 
Breakfast 
1 peach 

1 shredded wheat biscuit with % cup skimmed milk 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

£ % 

Luncheon 

Head lettuce with French dressing 
Egg salad sandwich 

Rhubarb sauce (sweetened with saccharine) 

I glass iced tea 

£ & 

Dinner 

Sardines and lemon Queen olives 

Roast lamb String beans 

1 slice gluten bread 1 orange (sliced) 

Iced tea or coffee 



164 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THURSDAY 
Breakfast 
1 pear 

Yz cup Kellogg's corn flakes with % cup skimmed milk 
(no sugar) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 
& % 

Luncheon 

2 slices white bread 
lVk cups whole milk 

& & 

Dinner 

Fruit cocktail 

Veal loaf with new cabbage (boiled) 

Tomato and lettuce salad 

1 slice swieback y 2 i ce d canteloupe 


Iced tea or coffee 



Menus for Reducing 


165 


FRIDAY 

Breakfast 

2 tbsp. raisins and figs (stewed without sugar) 

1 crisp breakfast roll (without butter) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

% % 

Luncheon 

Iced tomato bouillon 

Egg salad * 3 salted wafers 

1 glass buttermilk 

& & 

Dinner 
Clam cocktail 

Grilled trout (or other fresh fish) 

1 tbsp. mashed potatoes 

Orange and tomato salad * Iced watermelon 


Iced coffee or tea 



166 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SATURDAY 

Breakfast 

1/2 cup blackberries (no sugar or cream) 

1 triscuit 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 
* & 

Luncheon 

Average helping Delicious salad * 

1 slice whole wheat bread thinly buttered 
1 glass buttermilk or skimmed milk 

£ % 

Dinner 

Kidney soup * Radishes and olives 

Broiled tenderloin steak (beef) 

Watercress salad * *4 rye-crisp wafer 

Sliced peaches (no cream or sugar) 



Menm for Reducing 


167 


THE FALL MONTHS 

(September, October, November) 

* 

SUNDAY 

Breakfast 
1 apple 

2 tbsp. grapenuts with 2 tbsp. cream 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 


& & 


Dinner 

6 oysters on the half-shell 


Roast veal 

Tomato-jelly salad * 


1 small baked sweet potato 
1 baked pear 


Coffee or tea 


* 


Lunch 

1 glass grapefruit juice (unsweetened) 



168 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


MONDAY 

Breakfast 

6 stewed prunes (unsweetened) 
cup Post’s bran with */2 CU P skimmed milk 
(no sugar) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

* % 

Lunch 

2 stuffed eggs with hot tomato sauce 
Celery and apple salad * 1 slice bran bread 

Hot tea 

* * 

Dinner 

Vegetable soup 

Roast spare ribs with sauerkraut 
Endive salad * 


Baked pears, spiced 


Beets 



Menus for Reducing 


169 


TUESDAY 

Breakfast 

1 baked apple with 3 tbsp. cream 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Average helping cream cheese salad * 

2 salted wafers 
1 glass buttermilk 

& 

Dinner 
Oxtail soup 
Broiled lamb chop 

Brussels sprouts Cole slaw 

1 slice whole wheat bread thinly buttered 
Small piece apple and prune pie 
Coffee or tea 



170 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


WEDNESDAY 

Breakfast 

14 grapefruit (no sugar) 

1 egg, scrambled 1 small bran muffin 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon 
1 glass skimmed milk 

& % 

Dinner 

Tomato soup (clear) 

Wild duck (or any game) with mushrooms 
Stuffed egg plant * 

Chilled sauerkraut with diet dressing 

2 salted wafers Cherry Jello 


Coffee or tea 



Mentis for Reducing 


171 


THURSDAY 
Breakfast 
1 orange 

1 crisp breakfast roll (no butter) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& 

Luncheon 

Chop suey salad * 

2 slices dry whole wheat toast 
1 glass skimmed milk 

& £ 

Dinner 

Celery soup Hamburger steak balls 

Baked squash (no butter) Perfection salad * 

Stewed figs (without sugar) 

Tea or coffee 



172 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


FRIDAY 

Breakfast 

V 2 , glass chilled grapefruit juice (no sugar) 

2 slices whole wheat toast thinly buttered 
1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Average helping sardine salad * 

2 salted wafers 
1 glass buttermilk 

% % 

Dinner 

Cauliflower soup * Fried smelts * 

Grapefruit jelly salad * 1 slice gluten bread 

Cranberry sauce (sweetened with saccharine) 

Tea or coffee 



Menus for Reducing 


in 


SATURDAY 

Breakfast 

I ounce seedless raisins 
1 crisp breakfast roll (no butter) 

1 cup coffee or cereal coffee 

& 

Luncheon 

1 poached egg 1 slice dry toast 

1 glass skimmed milk 

g & 

Dinner 

Carrot soup 

Roast pork (lean) with apple sauce 
String beans Tomato jelly salad * 

1 slice bran bread Lemon sherbet 

Tea or coffee 



174 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


Menus for Gaining 

THE WINTER MONTHS 

(December, January, February) 

(Recipes given for dishes marked *) 

SUNDAY 

Breakfast 

1/2 grapefruit, sugared 
Commeal mush with cream and sugar 
Buttered toast 

Coffee or Postum with cream and sugar 
& & 

Dinner 
Bean soup 

Roast leg of mutton, currant jelly 
Stewed tomatoes Baked sweet potatoes 

Pineapple and apple salad * 

Cheese straws Fruit cake 

Coffee or tea 
£ £ 

Lunch 

Toasted cheese rolls * Fruit salad * 


Milk 



Menus for Gaining 


175 


MONDAY 
Breakfast 
Stewed prunes 

Oatmeal with cream and sugar 
Muffins with honey 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

£ £ 

Luncheon 

Potato soup 

Cream cheese and pimento salad * 
Baked custard, lady fingers 
Milk 

# & 

Dinner 

Lettuce cocktail * 


Cream tomato soup 
Baked sprouts 


Broiled hamburger steak 
Pumpkin pie 


Cheese 


Coffee 



176 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


TUESDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 


Grapenuts with cream and sugar 
Waffles with butter and maple syrup 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

* X 
Luncheon 

Oyster stew (whole milk) 

Celery Olives 


Apple pie with whipped cream 
Tea 

X X 

Dinner 

Broiled beefsteak 


Baked potatoes 


Creamed onions 


Waldorf salad * 


Jellied figs 


Nut cookies 


Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


177 


WEDNESDAY 
Breakfast 
Y 2 large grapefruit 

Uncle Sam breakfast food with cream and sugar 
Pan cakes with maple syrup 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Hot biscuits with butter and honey 
Peach cobbler with cream 
1 pint whole milk 

& g 

Dinner 

Cream celery soup 

Breaded pork chops Mashed potatoes, gravy 

Creamed peas 

Pineapple salad * Cheese wafers 

Coffee or tea 



178 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THURSDAY 

Breakfast 

Stewed figs and raisins 
Kellogg's cornflakes with cream and sugar 
Bacon Buttered toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon with 2 poached eggs 
Hot rolls and butter 
Milk 

£ £ 

Dinner 
Beef broth 

Pork tenderloins, apple sauce 
Baked sweet potatoes, Southern style 
Buttered parsnips Raisin pudding with cream 

Tea or coffee 



Menus for Gaining 


179 


FRIDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 

Cream of wheat with cream and sugar 
Minced ham and scrambled eggs 
Buttered toast 
Coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Cream of tomato soup * 

Parker House rolls with butter 
Baked cream custard 
Milk 

& * 

Dinner 

Shrimp Cocktail 

Salmon croquettes, tomato sauce 
Mashed potatoes French peas 

Pickled mangoes Cottage pudding with cream 


Tea or coffee 



180 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SATURDAY 
Breakfast 
Y 2 large grapefruit 
Oatmeal with cream and sugar 
French toast with butter 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

£ % 

Luncheon 

Old-fashioned bean soup 
Creamed chipped beef on toast 
Cocoanut custard pie 
Milk 

& & 

Dinner 

Oyster cocktail 

Roast beef, brown gravy Riced potatoes 

Mashed turnips Marshmallow salad * 

Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


181 


THE SPRING MONTHS 

(March, April, May) 

SUNDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 

Shredded wheat biscuits with cream 
Buttered toast 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& % 

Dinner 

Crab meat cocktail 

Grilled porterhouse steak French fried potatoes 

Stewed tomatoes 

Shredded cabbage, cream dressing 
Apple pie, cheese 
Coffee 

% % 

Lunch 

Toasted cheese sandwiches 
Fruit salad 

Milk or Horlick’s Malted Milk 



182 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


MONDAY 
Breakfast 
% large grapefruit 

Post Toasties and cream Hot muffins, butter 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

& £ 

Luncheon 

Waffles and creamed chicken 
Milk or Horlick’s Malted Milk 

& & 

Dinner 

Vegetable soup 

Veal pot pie with baked dumplings 
Cabbage salad Cheese crackers 

Fruit Jello, whipped cream 
Coffee 



Mentis for Gaining 


183 


TUESDAY 
Breakfast 
Stewed prunes 

Cream of wheat with cream Buttered toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

X X 
Luncheon 

Minced ham and scrambled eggs 
Hot rolls, butter Rice pudding with cream 

Milk 

* X 

Dinner 

Stewed chicken 

Spinach Buttered parsnips 

Celery and orange salad * 

Baking powder biscuits Cheese 

Coffee 



184 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


WEDNESDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 


Oatmeal and cream 


Buttered toast 


Coffee or cereal coffee 
& & 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon 
Apple pie 

Milk or Horlick’s Malted Milk 
& & 

Dinner 

Potato soup 

Breaded lamb chops, tomato sauce 


Mashed potatoes 
Cheese salad * 


Creamed turnips 
Custard pudding 


Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


185 


THURSDAY 
Breakfast 
Raisins and figs 


Omelet 


Buttered toast 


Coffee or cereal coffee 
& 

Luncheon 

Cream of tomato soup 
Hot rolls, butter 
Milk or Horlick’s Malted Milk 

£ 

Dinner 

Scotch broth * 


Veal loaf, brown sauce 
String beans 


Baked potatoes 
Mexican salad * 


Cheese straws 


Vanilla ice cream, cake 


Coffee 



186 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


FRIDAY 

Breakfast 

Rhubarb sauce 

Bacon and eggs Buttered toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

% % 

Luncheon 

Baked beans 
Boston brown bread 
Tea 

& & 

Dinner 

Grapefruit cocktail 

Baked white fish Mashed potatoes 

Creamed spinach Radishes 

Fruit Jello, whipped cream 


Sponge cake 


Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


187 


SATURDAY 

Breakfast 

Berries, cream and sugar 
Cakes and maple syrup 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& g 

Luncheon 

Cream of pea soup 


Stuffed eggs * 


Apple salad 


Milk 


& % 


Dinner 
Fruit cup 


Roast sirloin of beef 


Mashed potatoes 


Summer squash 


Strawberry ice cream 


Cake 


Coffee 



188 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THE SUMMER MONTHS 
(June, July, August) 

SUNDAY 

Breakfast 

Strawberries and cream 
Buttered toast 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Dinner 

Green vegetable soup 

Fried chicken Com bread 

Mashed potatoes Stewed tomatoes 

Bean salad * 

Fruit whip Coffee or tea 

% 

Lunch 

Nut bread sandwiches 
Head lettuce, thousand island dressing 
Milk 



Menus for Gaining 


189 


MONDAY 

Breakfast 

1/2 chilled canteloupe 

Corn flakes and cream Buttered toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

Luncheon 

Combination salad with thousand island dressing 
Buttered toast 
Milk 

& K 

Dinner 

Orange cocktail 

Hamburger steak Creamed asparagus 

Baked potatoes Lettuce and egg salad * 
Strawberry mousse, lady fingers 
Coffee or tea 



190 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


TUESDAY 

Breakfast 

Strawberries and cream 
Buttered toast 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Luncheon 

Spanish omelet * 

Hot rolls, butter Lemon Jello, whipped cream 

Milk 

& x 

Dinner 

Strawberry cocktail * 

Roast lamb with mint sauce 
Mashed potatoes Carrots and peas 

Cherry pie 
Coffee or tea (iced) 



Menus for Gaining 


191 


WEDNESDAY 

Breakfast 

Raspberries and cream 
Coffee 

% & 

Luncheon 

Cold roast pork sandwich 
Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers 
Milk 

& % 

Dinner 

Watermelon cocktail 

Cold corned beef Buttered potatoes 

New beets Lettuce, French dressing * 

Tapioca pudding with cream 
Coffee 



192 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


THURSDAY 

Breakfast 

Sliced peaches with cream 

Corn flakes with cream Breakfast roll with butter 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& % 

Luncheon 

Combination salad, thousand island dressing 
Buttered toast 
Milk 

& % 

Dinner 

Cream of celery soup 

Broiled tenderloin of beef Lyonnaise potatoes 

Green beans Custard pie 

Iced tea or coffee 



Menus for Gaining 


193 


FRIDAY 
Breakfast 
1/2 canteloupe 
Waffles and maple syrup 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

& % 

Luncheon 

Egg salad sandwiches 
Milk 

& 8 

Dinner 

Onion cocktail * 

Stewed clams Vegetable salad * 

Brown bread sandwiches Peach cobbler 

Coffee 



194 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SATURDAY 

Breakfast 

Glass chilled orange juice 


Bacon and eggs 


Buttered toast 


Coffee or cereal coffee 
g & 

Luncheon 

Creamed chipped beef on toast 
Milk 

% % 

Dinner 

Baked liver and bacon 


Mashed potatoes 


Corn on cob 


Lettuce and pineapple salad * 


Stewed pears, cream 


Layer cake 


Coffee or tea (iced) 



Menus for Gaining 


195 


THE FALL MONTHS 

(September, October, November) 

SUNDAY 

Breakfast 

Baked apple with cream 

Omelet Toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 

& & 

Dinner 

Oyster cocktail 

Roast young chicken Stuffed tomatoes 

Riced potatoes 

Apple and nut salad * Prune whip 

Coffee or tea 

& & 

Lunch 

Chicken sandwiches 
Lettuce, mayonnaise 

Milk 



196 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


MONDAY 

Breakfast 

Blackberries and cream 
Buttered toast 
Coffee 

% % 

Luncheon 

Baked beans with pork 
Boston brown bread 
Milk 

* & 

Dinner 

Roast pork, apple sauce 

Browned parsnips Sweet potatoes, southern style 
Porcupine salad * Black cap pudding * 

Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


197 


TUESDAY 
Breakfast 
Pears and raisins 

Griddle cakes with little pig sausages 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

as as 

Luncheon 

Cream of tomato soup 
Hot beef sandwich 
Milk 

as as 

Dinner 

Vk chilled canteloupe 

Veal cutlets Rice croquettes 

Lima beans 

Cabbage and apple salad * Pineapple pie 

Coffee or tea 



198 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


WEDNESDAY 
Breakfast 
Apples and figs 
French toast with butter 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

% % 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon with poached eggs 
Buttered toast 
Milk 

& 

Dinner 

Noodle soup 

Lamb chops French fried potatoes 

Creamed cauliflower 

Celery and apple salad * Plum tart 

Coffee or tea 



Menus for Gaining 


199 


THURSDAY 

Breakfast 

Baked apple and cream 


Rolls and butter 


Ham and eggs 


Coffee or cereal coffee 
g & 

Luncheon 

Macaroni and cheese 
Hot biscuits, butter 
Milk 

& 

Dinner 

Alphabet soup 


Irish stew 


Baked rice 


Lima beans 


Macedoine salad * 


Chocolate pie 


Coffee or tea 



200 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


FRIDAY 
Breakfast 
% grapefruit 

Rice waffles with maple syrup 
Coffee or cereal coffee 

% & 

Luncheon 

Vegetarian luncheon with poached eggs * 

Whole wheat bread and butter 
Milk 

& & 

Dinner 

Clear soup with rice 

Fried cod steak, baked potatoes Sweet com 

Cole slaw 

Pumpkin pie Cheese wafers 


Coffee or tea 



M ernes for Gaining 


201 


SATURDAY 
Breakfast 
Sliced orange 

Oatmeal with cream and sugar Buttered toast 

Coffee or cereal coffee 


Cream toast 

% % 

Luncheon 

Apple pie 

Milk 

% & 

Dinner 

Clear bouillon 


Baked pork chops with sweet potatoes 
Creamed onions Cucumber salad * 


Rice pudding 

Feather cake 


Coffee or tea 

Milk 



202 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHAPTER III. 

Recipes 

This chapter is not an abridged manual of 
food preparation. Nor is it a camouflaged cook¬ 
book. There are entirely too many excellent and 
eminently practical kitchen handbooks upon the 
market to warrant the writer presuming to offer 
any sort of condensed substitute therefor. 

The recipes set down herein are recounted 
for the sole purpose of firing the imagination 
and of encouraging native ingenuity—nothing 
more. And if they are found to be of meager 
number and fragmentary, it is to be remembered 
that they are intended to serve simply as sugges¬ 
tions. 

Probably the most difficult of all dishes to 
vary satisfactorily are those which are classified 
as salads. For that reason a considerable num¬ 
ber of practical and really delectable concoctions 
of that order are described. Such preparations 
decorate the menu and provide many essential 
though often slighted foods in an appetizing and 
rational variety of combinations. 

Several so-called appetizers are also included, 
as well as a collection of miscellaneous recipes. 

Every one of the following dishes has stood 



Recipes 


203 


the test of continual prescription and are defi- 
nitely known to be as valuable as they are palat¬ 
able. Prepared and served according to direc¬ 
tions, they offer untold present as well as future 
suggestive possibilities. And therein lies the 
secret of their worth. 


APPETIZERS 


GRAPE FRUIT COCKTAIL 

Pare the grape fruit with a sharp knife in 
such a manner that all the thin inside membrane 
is removed with the peeL Hold the fruit over a 
saucer so that any juice escaping may be caught 
and saved. Insert the point of the knife at the 
stem end, close to the membrane which divides 
the fruit into sections. Carefully insinuate the 
knife between the membrane and the pulp. Do 
this first on one side and then on the other of 
each section. Thus they may be removed free 
from their membranes. 

Cut sections in thirds or fourths and arrange 
in cocktail glasses. Pour a portion of salvaged 
juice into each. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 
Chill thoroughly. Just before serving place 
large red cherry in center of each glass. 




204 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


LETTUCE COCKTAIL 

1 crisp head of lettuce 

4 tablespoons chili sauce 

2 tablespoons melted butter 

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 

4 tablespoons vinegar 

3 tablespoons sugar 

4 small onions 

Pinch of salt 

2 hard-boiled eggs 

Cut lettuce, onions and eggs finely. Add chili 
sauce to melted butter, then stir in Worcester¬ 
shire sauce, sugar, vinegar, salt. Chill all in¬ 
gredients. When time to serve, pour sauce over 

lettuce, onions and eggs. Have very cold. 

* * * 

ONION COCKTAIL 

1 cup diced onions 

2 cups diced apples 

1 cup seeded raisins 

% cup vinegar 

% cup water 

1 tablespoon melted butter 

2 teaspoons sugar 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Pinch red pepper 

Yolks of two eggs 

Stir water, vinegar, butter, sugar, salt and 
pepper together in a saucepan. Heat and then 
add slowly the well beaten yolks of two eggs, 
stirring constantly until thick. 

Place onions, apples and raisins in cocktail 
glasses and pour dressing over all. Place in ice 
box for at least two hours before serving. 



Recipes 


205 


LOBSTER COCKTAIL 

1 cup lobster meat (finely divided) 

% cup tomato catsup 

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 
*4 cup lemon juice 

% teaspoon tobasco sauce 
% teaspoon finely chopped onion 
Pinch of salt 

Mix all ingredients. Chill thoroughly. Serve 
in cocktail glasses. 

* * * 

ORANGE COCKTAIL 

Prepare and serve in manner outlined for 
grape fruit cocktail. 

* * * 

OYSTER COCKTAIL 
(Individual) 

Put into each glass ten drops of Worcester¬ 
shire sauce, two drops of tobasco sauce, 1 table¬ 
spoon tomato catsup, 12 drops of onion juice, 1 
tablespoon of lemon juice and salt to taste. Open 
y 2 dozen select oysters from half-shell into each 
previously prepared glass and set away to chill 
before serving. Must be very cold. 



206 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


RAISIN COCKTAIL 

1 cup cranberry juice (sweetened) 
or 

1 cup strained stewed rhubarb 
1 cup cold water 
X A CU P orange juice 

cup chopped seeded raisins 
Cover raisins with orange juice and let stand 
for at least an hour. Add cranberry juice or 
rhubarb and water. Mix thoroughly and serve 
ice cold in cocktail glasses, with small slice of 
orange or lemon. 


* * * 

DRESSINGS FOR SALADS 


BOILED DIET DRESSING 

Yolks of three eggs 
Whites of two eggs 
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
% teaspoon salt 
% teaspoon paprika 
Pinch red pepper 
1 grain saccharine 
1 scant cup weak vinegar 

Beat the yolks and whites together until 
light; then add the other ingredients in the order 
named. Stir until well mixed. Pour all into 
saucepan and cook slowly over slow fire, stirring 
frequently. When thickens to cream-like con¬ 
sistency, remove from fire and let stand until 
thoroughly cool before using. 




Recipes 


207 


CREAM SALAD DRESSING 

2 egg yolks 
1/4 cup vinegar 
% cup milk 

2 level tablespoons butter 
2 level tablespoons flour 
2 level tablespoons sugar 
% level teaspoon salt 
1/2 level teaspoon dry mustard 
Mix flour, sugar, salt, mustard. Beat egg 
yolks light and add vinegar, then milk. Stir 
into dry ingredients and cook in double boiler 
until thickens to consistency of rich cream. Then 
add the butter. Beat for a minute and pour 
into a jar. When cool set away into ice box. 
Must be stored in a cool place or will not keep 
satisfactorily. 

* * * 

DIET DRESSING (Uncooked) 

2 tablespoons vinegar 

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard 
1 teaspoon finely chopped 
onion and parsley 
Pinch of salt 
Pinch of paprika 
1 tablespoon chili sauce 
Dash of Worcestershire sauce 

3 tablespoons NUJOL 

Mix all ingredients but NUJOL together 
thoroughly and pour into shaker or fruit jar. 
Add the NUJOL last and shake all thoroughly. 
Chill before using. This recipe may be doubled 
or trebled as desired, taking care to preserve the 
proportions. 



208 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


FRENCH DRESSING 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 
4 tablespoons NUJOL (or olive oil) 

% teaspoon paprika 
>4 teaspoon salt 

Mix ingredients, adding oil first and lemon 
juice last. Stir or shake thoroughly just before 
serving. If used in connection with MENUS 
FOR GAINING olive or any other good salad 
oil may be substituted for NUJOL. 

* * * 

MAYONNAISE DRESSING 

% cup olive or other good salad oil 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

Yolk 1 egg 

Dash red pepper 

V 2 teaspoon powdered sugar 

Vi teaspoon salt 

14 teaspoon dry mustard 

Sift dry ingredients together two or three 
times. Beat egg yolk until light and add to above 
with lemon juice. When all is well beaten, and 
with continued beating, add oil, drop by drop, 
until the mixture begins to thicken. Then pour 
jn balance of the oil in a fine stream, beating 
continually, until all of the oil is used. If the 
mixture becomes too thick, thin with a little 
lemon juice or vinegar. 



Recipes 


209 


FRUIT SALAD DRESSING 

1 tablespoon butter 

1 teaspoon dry mustard 

2 teaspoons sugar 
% teaspoon salt 
*/2 teaspoon pepper 
2 eggs 

4 tablespoons lemon juice 
1 cupful whipped cream 

Melt the butter, add the dry ingredients, the 
well beaten yolks of the eggs and the lemon juice. 
Cook in a double boiler until thick, and then add 
the whites of the eggs, stiffly beaten. Chill. Add 
the whipped cream just before serving. This 
dressing should always be mixed with the fruit 
with which it is served. 


* 


* * 


MARSHMALLOW DRESSING 

1 cup whipped cream 
1 cup diced marshmallows 
1/2 cup vinegar 
V 2 cup sugar 

Boil the vinegar and sugar together for three 
minutes. Do not stir. Add marshmallows and 
set away to cool. When cold stir in whipped 
cream and serve with fruit, immediately. Be 
sure to have all well chilled. 



210 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SOUR CREAM DRESSING 

1 tablespoon chopped green pepper 

1 tablespoon chopped pimento 

2 tablespoons sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 

teaspoon pepper 
Vz cup vinegar 
2/3 cup sour cream 

Mix the ingredients all together and beat 
vigorously for five minutes. Serve very cold on 
cucumbers, tomatoes, etc. 

* * * 

RUSSIAN DRESSING 

1 cup mayonnaise 

2 tablespoons chili sauce 

% cup chopped green pickle 
% teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 
1 teaspoon chopped onion 
% teaspoon salt 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 

Mix all ingredients and beat for three min¬ 
utes. Serve very cold with combination salad, 
or on head lettuce, sliced tomatoes or cucumbers. 



Recipes 


211 


SALADS 


APPLE AND NUT SALAD 

1 pint chopped apples 
1 cup diced celery 

% cup blanched and shredded almonds 
14 cup rolled pecan meats 

Mix apples, celery and nuts together. Dress 
with fruit salad dressing and chill before serv¬ 
ing. The whipped cream to be added as salad 
is taken to table. 


* 


* 


BEET SALAD 

1 cup chopped cooked beets 

1 cup cabbage, chopped 

% cup chopped sweet pickle 

2 teaspoons salt 

1 cup chopped celery 
teaspoon paprika 
% cup boiled diet dressing 

Mix all ingredients with dressing thoroughly. 
Chill until very cold and serve immediately. 





212 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


BEET SALAD 

1 cup chopped celery 

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 

2 tablespoons chopped green peppers 

2 tablespoons chopped onions 
V /2 cups chopped cooked beets 
1 teaspoon salt 

% teaspoon paprika 
% cup mayonnaise 
Chilled lettuce leaves 

Mix all ingredients and spices, add dressing 

and serve on the lettuce leaves, very cold. 

* * * 

CREAM CHEESE AND PIMENTO SALAD 

1 can pimentos 
Creamed cheese 

Wash and dry the pimentos. Fill them with 
creamed cheese. Chill, slice and serve on crisp 

lettuce leaves with the boiled diet dressing. 

* * * 

CHEESE SALAD 

1 cup chopped cooked chicken 
1/2 pound soft cheese 
V 2 cup chopped pickled cauliflower 
Yolks 2 hard-boiled eggs 
1 teaspoon dry mustard 
4 tablespoons melted butter 

3 tablespoons vinegar 

Dash of salt, red pepper and paprika 
Rub the egg yolks through a sieve and add 
the other ingredients save the first three in 
order. Mix thoroughly and pour this sauce over 
the chicken, cheese and cauliflower. Garnish 
and serve. 



Recipes 


218 


CREAM CHEESE SALAD 

1 cup cream cheese 
% cup chopped nuts 

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 

1 tablespoon chopped green pepper 
*4 teaspoon salt 
% teaspoon paprika 
1 cup mayonnaise 
Head lettuce leaves 

Cream the cheese until soft, add the nuts, 
green pepper, pimentos, spices and 1 tablespoon 
of dressing. Form into a cake. Chill for at 
least one hour. Cut in very thin slices and serve 
on lettuce leaves with mayonnaise. 

* * * 

CABBAGE SALAD 

Cut inner part of hard head of cabbage into 
shreds. Arrange this cabbage for individual 
serving by packing into green peppers, each of 
which has had seeds removed and has been made 
soft by boiling. Cover the cabbage with the 
following dressing: 

1/2 cup milk 

2 eggs 

1 tablespoon butter 

1 tablespoon flour 

2 tablespoons vinegar 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Bring milk to nearly boiling, add butter, flour 
and vinegar, stirring slowly. Stir in beaten eggs 
and let cook until thick. Cool and pour over pre¬ 
pared salad. Garnish with beets and serve cold. 



214 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CABBAGE AND PINEAPPLE SALAD 

Peel small ripe pineapple or use contents of 
small can of preserved fruit. Chill thoroughly. 
Mix with cup of finely chopped celery and suf¬ 
ficient shredded cabbage to give desired bulk. 
Sprinkle with a little French dressing and let 
stand for a few minutes. Then mix with boiled 
diet dressing and serve on lettuce leaves. Gar¬ 
nish with nut meats, if desired. 

* * * 

CELERY AND APPLE SALAD 

1 cup chopped celery 

1 cup diced apples 

Vk cup chopped nut meats 

i /2 cup diced pineapple 

2 tablespoons lemon juice 

% cup marshmallow dressing 

Lettuce leaves 

Mix apples, lemon juice, celery, nuts and 
pineapple. Add salad dressing and serve on 
lettuce leaves. Is better when served ice cold. 

* * * 

CELERY SALAD 

Cut several stalks of crisp, tender celery very 
fine. Mix with a little chopped onion and may¬ 
onnaise. Serve on lettuce. 



Recipes 


215 


CAULIFLOWER AND RED PEPPER SALAD 

Cooked flowerets of cauliflower and cold 
diced sweet red peppers. Mix and serve on let¬ 
tuce leaves with boiled diet dressing or mayon¬ 
naise. 

* * * 

CHICKEN SALAD 

1 cup chopped cold chicken 
1/2 cup chopped hard-boiled eggs 
% cup chopped celery 
% cup chopped sweet pickles 
14 cup chopped pimentos 
1 teaspoon salt 
14 teaspoon paprika 
% cup mayonnaise 

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and serve 
very cold on chilled head lettuce leaves. 


CHICKEN SALAD 

2 cups diced cooked chicken 
% cup cooked peas 
% cup chopped celery 
14 cup chopped pimentos 
1/4 cup chopped green pepper 
2 teaspoons salt 
14 teaspoon paprika 

1 cup mayonnaise or boiled diet dressing 
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. Serve cold 
on chilled lettuce leaves. 



216 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CHICKEN SALAD 


2 cups diced cooked chicken 

1 cup diced celery 

V 2 c u P diced cucumbers 

1/2 cup chopped hard-boiled eggs 

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 
1/2 teaspoon paprika 

2 teaspoons salt 
1 cup boiled diet dressing 
Head lettuce leaves 

Mix main ingredients. Add salt and paprika. 
Cover all with dressing and mix. Chill thorough¬ 
ly and serve on lettuce leaves. 


* 


* * 


CARROT SALAD 

14 cup chopped cucumbers 
1/2 cup chopped celery 
2 cups diced cooked carrots 
1 tablespoon chopped onion 
1/4 teaspoon paprika 
1 heaping teaspoon salt 
% cup boiled diet dressing 
Head lettuce leaves 

Mix celery, cucumbers, onion, carrots and 
spices. Add salad dressing and chill for two 
hours. Serve on lettuce leaves. 



Recipes 


217 


CORN SALAD 

1 cup chopped celery 

2 cups cooked corn 

2 tablespoons chopped sweet pickles 
2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 
1 teaspoon paprika 
V 2 cup boiled diet dressing 
Place corn in strainer and let drain. Mix 
other ingredients with it and serve very cold on 
lettuce leaves. 

* * * 

DELICIOUS SALAD 

Drain juice from one medium sized can of 
white cherries, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar and 
enough water to make 1 pint. Heat to boiling 
point and add 1 package of lemon Jello. Arrange 
in mould, alternating layers of Jello with layers 
of cherries, cold chicken, chopped fine and 
chopped celery. When set, slice in thin slices 

and serve with marshmallow dressing. 

* * * 

EGG SALAD 

6 hard-boiled eggs 
% teaspoon salt 
Dash of paprika 
4 tablespoons diet dressing 
1 teaspoon chopped pickles 
Remove eggs from shells carefully and cut 
in half. Carefully remove yolks. Mash and com¬ 
bine with remainder of ingredients. Fill egg 
cases, pressing mixture firmly into each. Serve 
on letttuce leaves with sour cream dressing or 
boiled diet dressing. 



218 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


ENDIVE SALAD 

Sprinkle finely chopped onions over crisp 
and chilled leaves of endive. A quantity of 
chopped celery may be added, if desired. Dress 
with the diet dressing and serve very cold. Gar¬ 
nish with slices of hard-boiled egg. 


* 


* 


FRUIT SALAD 

12 marshmallows 
1 small can pineapple 
1 juicy apple 
3 oranges 
Lettuce leaves 

Cut fruit and marshmallows into small 
pieces; mix and chill. Serve with following 
dressing: 


1 tablespoon butter 

2 tablespoons sugar or 
2 grains saccharine 

2 tablespoons vinegar 
2 eggs 

1,4 pint whipped cream 
Pinch of salt 

Beat eggs in double boiler, add vinegar, 
sugar, salt and butter and cook until thick. Cool 
and add whipped cream. Mix with trait. Chill, 
Serve on crisp lettuce leaves. 



Recipes 


219 


GRAPE FRUIT JELLY SALAD 

2 tablespoons granulated gelatin 
1/3 cup cold water 
1 cup boiling water 
% cup sugar 
% grape fruit juice 
cup lemon juice 
!/2 cup grape fruit pulp 

Soak the gelatin in the cold water for five 
minutes. Add the boiling water and stir until 
gelatin is well dissolved. Add sugar and fruit 
juices. Cool and add grape fruit pulp. Pour 
into mould. Chill thoroughly, until set. Slice 
and serve on lettuce leaves with mayonnaise or 
boiled diet dressing. 


* * 


* 


GRAPE FRUIT SALAD 

2 cups diced grape fruit 
1 cup chopped walnuts 
I cup diced oranges 
Pinch of salt 

i/ 2 cup diet or French dressing 
6 pieces head lettuce 

Mix grape fruit, oranges, nuts and salt. Ar¬ 
range on lettuce leaves and chill. Dress with 
salad dressing and serve immediately. 



220 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


LETTUCE AND EGG SALAD 

Shred small head of lettuce. Chop 2 hard- 
boiled eggs and mix with lettuce. Serve with 
thousand island dressing. 

* * * 

MACEDOINE SALAD 

1 cup cooked peas 

1 cup diced green beans (cooked) 

¥2 cup diced cooked carrots 

¥2 CU P cooked diced asparagus 
¥2 cup cooked lima beans 

2 tablespoons chopped green pepper 
2 tablespoons chopped onion 

2 tablespoons chili sauce 
2 tablspoons salt 
¥2 teaspoon paprika 
% cup diet or French dressing 
Mix all. Serve very cold on chilled head 
lettuce leaves. 

* * * 

MARSHMALLOW SALAD 

1 cup marshmallows, cut fine 

2 cups seeded white grapes 
¥2 cup chopped nut meats 
¥2 cup chopped celery 

¥2 cup marshmallow salad dressing 
¥2 cup whipped cream 
Chilled lettuce leaves 

Mix grapes, nuts, marshmallows and nuts 
carefully. Combine salad dressing and whipped 
cream. Mix with salad. Serve cold on lettuce 
leaves. 



Redyes 


221 


ORANGE AND TOMATO SALAD 

3 tablespoons melted butter 

4 tomatoes 
4 oranges 

1 tablespoon chopped parsley 

Vinegar 

Salt 

Peel tomatoes and oranges, slice and alter¬ 
nately arrange in salad dish. Mix juice salvaged 
from oranges with equal quantity of vinegar, 
add butter and salt to taste. Pour over slices of 
fruit and sprinkle chopped parsley on top. 

* * * 

PEANUT SALAD 

3 tablespoons of rice 
Boiling salted water 
1 cup orange juice 
1/2 cup chopped peanuts 
Cream cheese balls 
Lettuce leaves 
French dressing 

Wash rice; cook ten minutes in boiling salted 
water. Drain. Cover with orange juice, and 
cook, in double boiler, until rice is tender. CooL 
Mix with peanuts (using fork). Sprinkle with 
salt. Arrange on lettuce leaves with small cheese 
balls. Serve with French dressing. 



222 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


PERFECTION SALAD 


2 tablespoons granulated gelatine 
14 cup cold water 

1 cup of boiling water 

cups finely chopped cabbage 
% teaspoon salt 
V 2 cup diced pineapple 

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 
1 teaspoon sugar 


Soak gelatin in cold water for ten minutes. 
Add boiling water and stir until thoroughly dis¬ 
solved. When cool add other ingredients and 
place in mould. Set in cold place until time for 
serving. Dress with mayonnaise just before 
placing on table. 


* 


* * 


PINEAPPLE SALAD 


Arrange lettuce hearts on salad plate. Place 
slice of pineapple upon them. Cover with layer 
of soft cream cheese, then add another slice of 
pineapple. Dress with mayonnaise to which 
whipped cream has been added. 



Recipes 


223 


PINEAPPLE AND APPLE SALAD 

1 can pineapple 
4 apples 
1 head lettuce 
1/2 pound cottage cheese 
Pinch paprika 
Chopped chives 
% cup mayonnaise 
% pint whipped cream 

Dice pineapple and apples and mix lightly 
with mayonnaise and whipped cream. Surround 
with head lettuce and cottage cheese balls to 
which paprika and chopped chives have been 
added. Serve cold. 


* * * 

PORCUPINE SALAD 

6 firm tomatoes 
Strips of celery 
Strips of green pepper 
Teaspoon salt 
% teaspoon paprika 
1/2 cup mayonnaise 
Lettuce leaves 

Remove stem ends of tomatoes, wash, peel 
and chill. Stick strips of celery and green pep¬ 
per around and in sides of tomatoes. Serve very 
cold in lettuce leaves with mayonnaise. 



224 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


SARDINE SALAD 


1 cup chopped sardines 
% cup chopped celery 
% cup chopped sweet pickles 
% cup chopped pimentos 
¥2 cup chopped cucumbers 
% cup boiled diet dressing 

Mix ingredients. Serve on chilled lettuce 
leaves and very cold. 


* * * 


STRING BEAN SALAD 


String beans but do not cut them. Boil, drain 
and cool. Serve on lettuce leaves with diet or 
French dressing. 


* 


* 


SAUERKRAUT SALAD 


Chill sauerkraut Place in cold salad dish. 
Pour diet or French dressing over all. Serve 
very cold. 



Recipes 


225 


SPINACH SALAD 

1 pint can spinach 

2 cups shredded cabbage 
V 2 cup pickled beets 

1 hard-boiled egg 
1 tabespoon chopped onion 
Vz cup boiled diet dressing 

Place spinach in colander and drain until 
dry. Turn out on plate and carefully cut with 
a sharp knife. Season with salt and paprika 
and mix with half the dressing. Line a dish with 
shredded cabbage which has been thoroughly 
chilled and mix with the balance of the dressing. 
Mould the spinach and place it evenly upon the 
cabbage. 

Garnish with beets cut into strips. Separate 
the egg, chop the white fine and sprinkle it on 
top. Rub the yolk through a strainer over the 
top of the salad and sprinkle with salt and 
paprika. 



226 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


TOMATO JELLY SALAD 

2 cups strained tomato 
2 tablespoons gelatin 
2 tablespoons sugar 
1 teaspoon salt 
Dash of paprika 

Put the tomato into a saucepan and boil for 
ten minutes. Add sugar and seasoning and strain 
through a fine strainer. Soak the gelatin in 2 
tablespoons of cold water and add to strained 
hot tomato. Stir until dissolved. Pour out into 
a mould and chill. When firm, slice or cut into 
cubes and put on chilled lettuce leaves. Serve 
with boiled diet or mayonnaise dressing. 

* * * 

TOMATO JELLY SALAD 

2 cups tomato pulp 
4 cloves 

1 tablespoon chopped onion 
% teaspoon sugar 

li /2 teaspoons salt 

2 tablespoons granulated gelatin 
1% cups water 

Lettuce leaves 
2 stalks celery 

Cook tomato pulp, 1 cup water, spices, onion, 
sugar, celery slowly together for fifteen minutes. 
Strain. Soak gelatin in balance of water for five 
minutes. Heat strained tomato juice to boiling 
point and pour over soaked gelatin. Stir until 
dissolved. Pour into mould. Chill for two hours. 
Unmould, slice and serve on lettuce leaves with 
mayonnaise or boiled diet salad dressing. 



Recipes 


227 


VEGETABLE SALAD 

1 cup diced string’ beans 

1 cup shredded cabbage 
Vz cup chopped cucumbers 
% cup chopped onion 

2 tablespoons chopped pimentos 
1 teaspoon salt 

*4 teaspoon paprika 
% cup sour cream dressing 
Lettuce leaves (chilled) 

Mix vegetables and season. Add salad dress¬ 
ing. Combine thoroughly and serve on lettuce 
leaves, cold. 


* * * 

WATERCRESS SALAD 

Take a sufficient quantity of fresh young 
sprigs of watercress, wash and dry thorough¬ 
ly. Put lightly in chilled dish. Add 3 sliced 
small onions. Pour over this salad a dressing 
made of three parts of melted butter and one of 
lemon juice. Garnish with scraped horseradish. 




228 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


JELLIED WALDORF SALAD 


2 tablespoons granulated gelatin 
1/3 cup cold water 
1 cup boiling water 
4 tablespoons lemon juice 
% cup sugar 

IV 2 cups diced sour apples 
*4 teaspoon salt 
1 cup diced celery 
% cup nut meats 
1 cup mayonnaise 

Soak gelatin in cold water for ten minutes. 
Add boiling water and stir until gelatin is dis¬ 
solved. Add lemon juice and sugar. Cool. Add 
apples and celery. Pour into mould and chill for 
two hours. Turn out onto lettuce leaves. Mix 
dressing and nuts and serve on top. 


* * 


* 


WALDORF SALAD 


Dice two or three sour apples which have 
been peeled and sliced. Mix with three or four 
stalks of celery, chopped fine. Sprinkle over 
with English walnuts and serve with mayon¬ 
naise or boiled diet dressing. 



Recipes 


229 


SPANISH OMELET 

1 green pepper 
1 red pepper 
1 onion 

3 tablespoons butter 
6 mushrooms, if desired 
6 eggs 

6 tablespoons water 
Salt and paprika 

Put half of the butter in a saucepan, add 
onion chopped very fine, mushrooms and pep¬ 
pers. Cover and cook very slowly for twenty 
minutes. Make plain omelet from rest of in¬ 
gredients and turn, when done, on a heated plat¬ 
ter. Fill ends of platter with Spanish sauce and 
serve. 


SOUPS 


CAULIFLOWER SOUP 

Cut large parboiled cauliflower into slices. 
Dice 2 large onions and 1 celery heart. Fry in 
hot butter. When done brown, remove from pan 
and drain. Have chicken or veal stock hot and 
ready seasoned for the table in a stewpan. Place 
vegetables in this and allow to simmer until 
cauliflower can be easily broken. Pull pan aside 
and stir in the well-beaten yolks of 2 eggs and 
add enough cream to make all the thickness of 
rich cream. Let simmer but do not boil. Serve 
with diced toast or crisp wafers. 





230 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP 

1 quart hot milk 

1 quart tomatoes stewed and strained 

14 teaspoon soda 

1/3 cup butter 

1/3 cup flour 

3 teaspoons salt 

14 teaspoon black pepper 

Put butter in saucepan and proceed as when 
making other sauce, adding flour and seasoning. 
Do not brown. Add the hot tomato juice slowly. 
Before mixing with milk add the soda to tomato 
mixture. This prevents curdling. Combine milk 
with tomato stock just before serving and strain 
to take out lumps. 

Let the soup boil before adding the milk but 
not afterwards. 


* * * 

v KIDNEY SOUP 

V 2 pound ox kidney 
% pound lean beef 
3 pints brown stock 
3 tablespoons chopped bacon 

1 tablespoon chopped onion 

2 tablespoons flour 
2 tablespoons butter 
Salt and pepper 

Wash kidney and beef thoroughly, dry, and 
cut up. Melt butter in saucepan, add bacon, 
onion, and kidney and fry until brown. Add 



Redyes 


231 


stock and salt to taste. Let simmer, with beef, 
for 2 y 2 hours. Strain out solid parts and pound 
to paste. Rub this through sieve to smooth. Mix 
flour with little of strained soup. Reboil re¬ 
mainder of liquid, pour in flour and stir until 
boiling. Cook for ten minutes and carefully 
skim. Mix in meat paste without boiling and 
serve. 


* * * 

SCOTCH BROTH 

2 pounds back mutton 
1 cup barley 

1 cup peas 
1 carrot 

1 teaspoon sugar 

3 onions 

1 tablespoon butter 
1 small cabbage 
1 tablespoon chopped parsley 
16 cups soup stock 
Salt and pepper 

Prepare vegetables and dice. Put water or 
stock into large granite-ware pan and when it 
boils add eat and barley. Boil up, skimming 
frequently. Add vegetables and simmer for 
three hours. Stir in salt, pepper and sugar. 
Then add butter. Let simmer again for thirty 
minutes. Add parsley and serve. 



232 


Nothing to Eat But Food 


MISCELLANEOUS 


STUFFED EGG PLANT 

Parboil 1 egg plant and cut in halves. Scrape 
out portion of the inside. Chop cold cooked 
meat and 2 tomatoes, 2 green peppers and 1 
onion. Mix with 1 well-beaten egg, 1 tablespoon 
butter and season to taste. Fill halves with this 
mixture. Sprinkle with bread or cracker crumbs 
and tiny bits of butter, put in baking dish with 
a little water and bake. Serve hot. 

* * * 

BLACK CAP PUDDING 

% cup currants 
3 tablespoons sugar 
% teaspoon salt 
1% cups flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder 
% teaspoon grated nutmeg 

2 tablespoons butter 
2 eggs, well-beaten 
2 cups milk 

Mix currants, sugar, salt and flour, which 
has been well-sifted with the baking powder, 
with nutmeg, butter, eggs and milk. Beat 
thoroughly together. Butter a pudding dish, 
sprinkle in some currants and pour in mixture. 
Cover with greased paper and steam two hours. 
Serve with milk. 




Redyes 


233 


TOASTED CHEESE ROLLS 

Thin slices fresh bread 
!/4 cup soft butter 
x /4 CU P pimento cheese 
Pinch paprika 
Pinch salt 

2 tablespoons mayonnaise 

Spread slices of bread with butter. Mix re¬ 
mainder of ingredients and spread on the slices. 
Roll. Place on pan and bake in moderate oven 
until brown. Serve hot. 

* * * 

MARMALADE SANDWICHES 

Cut slices of bread, thin. Spread with butter. 
Spread with orange marmalade. Put two slices 
together and toast. Serve cut in halves and hot. 

* * * 

VEGETARIAN LUNCHEON 

This luncheon consists of 2 or 3 tablespoons 
each of stewed corn, tomatoes, cauliflower, lima 
beans, mashed Irish or sweet potatoes and 
spinach over which 1 or 2 poached eggs have 
been placed. Must be piping hot. 




Watch Your Weight 


For Better Health 
and Greater Beauty 


Continental Scale Works 

Dept. O, 3124 W. 21st Place, Chicago 


will gauge your health correctly and conven¬ 
iently. Just step on the Health-O-Meter and 
read your correct weight on the dial. Thou¬ 
sands are in use. Public scales axe notor¬ 
iously inaccurate. See, try and examine the 
Health-O-Meter at our expense. Write far 
our Special 10 Day Free Trial Offer. It 
means much to your health and beauty. 
Address 


Good health brings real beauty. And good 
health is determined largely by your weight. 

A daily check on your weight marks your 
progress to ideal health and beauty. Good 
health, good looks and a good figure are 
your birthright Know exactly the progress 
you are making; guessing is dangerous. 
Weigh daily without clothes—it is the only 
Bale way. 'Hie 


HE ALTH-O-M ETER 

“The Pilot of Health" 


Uncle Sam Health Food 

is endorsed by the 
OSTEOPATHIC PROFESSION 
for its 

Laxative—Strengthening and Assimilable Qualities 

TOASTED WHOLE WHEAT FLAKES 
AND CRUSHED FLAX SEED, 

GROUND CELERY AND SALT 

Thoroughly Prepared for Use From the Package 
For Sale by Grocers Everywhere 

Uncle Sam Breakfast Food Co. 

Omaha, Nebraska 
























































How to Overcome Constipation 


Most of us regard intestinal clogging as merely a cause of tem¬ 
porary discomfort—producing such ills as headaches, bilious at¬ 
tacks, insomnia and the like. Yet intestinal specialists have 
proved that constipation is the cause of fully 75 per cent of human 
disease. 

Why Physicians Favor Lubrication. 

Laxatives and cathartics do not overcome constipation, says a noted 
authority, but by their continued use tend only to aggravate the 
condition and often lead to permanent injury. 

Medical science, through knowledge of the intestinal tract, gained 
by X-ray observation and exhaustive tests, has found in lubrication 
a means of overcoming constipation. The gentle lubricant, Nujol, 
penetrates and softens the hard food waste. Thus it enables 
nature to sucure regular, thorough elimination. 

A Lubricant—-Nut a Laxative. 

Nujol is not a laxative and cannot cause distress. Nujol hastens 
the rate of flow through the intestine, preventing intestinal slug¬ 
gishness. 

Nujol is used in leading hospitals and is prescribed by physicians 
throughout the world for the relief of constipation in people of all 
ages. 

Mayonnaise and French Salad Dressings. 

A highly palatable French or Mayonnaise salad dress¬ 
ing may be made by substituting Nujol for olive oil or 
other vegetable oils . The natural lubricating action of 
Nujol is unimpaired when used with other ingredients. 
Furthermore , these dressings are non-fattening and are 
free from those objections to taste which many people have 
for olive oil or vegetable oils . Nujol in salad dressing is 
especially prescribed for diabetic patients and is exten¬ 
sively used in hospitals and sanitariums in cases in which 
olive oil or vegetable oils are forbidden. 



Guaranteed by Nujol Laboratories, Standard Oil Co. (New 
Jersey), 7 Hanover Square, New York 







An Ideal 
Table Beverage 


Refreshes Invigorates 



THE ORIGINAL 


“Horlick’s” is recommended by the Osteopathic 
profession as a wholesome family food-drink, par¬ 
ticularly for growing children and those who are 
subject to nervous, anaemic and digestive dis¬ 
orders, since it not only refreshes, but also 
nourishes and sustains with very little tax to the 
system. 

Avoid imitations when purchasing at the 
fountain or in jars for home use. 

HORLICK’S MALTED MILK COMPANY 

RACINE, WISCONSIN 





I READ 




“No Breakfast Plan and Fasting Cure” 

TWENTY-THREE YEARS AGO 


I have never read a more genuinely helpful book in my 
life, nor one that has meant as much to me. 

The physician who knows how to fast his patients in¬ 
telligently is a better doctor than the one who knows noth¬ 
ing of this splendid remedy—the greatest therapeutic aid 
known to medical science. 

Fasting is a natural measure. It cleanses the entire 
alimentary tract, helps eliminate poisonous waste matter 
which has been accumulating for years, purifies the blood¬ 
stream. It rejuvenates, flushes, cleans the whole human 
system. 


DR. DEWEY’S 

NO-BREAKFAST PLAN AND FASTING-CURE 


should be in every home in the land. Every physician 
owes it as a duty to his patients to master this wonderful 
health volume. And the price is so low that the book is 
within the reach of all— 


$2.00 per copy, postage paid 

I have sold and guaranteed hundreds of copies. 
I’ll guarantee your copy. Read the book and if 
you find I have exaggerated its merits in any way 
return it and I will refund your money. 


R. H. Williams, D. 0. 

Publisher of THE OSTEOPATH, for the profession, $3 a 
year, in advance. 

Publisher of RIGHT LIVING, a Magazine of Good Health, 
for the laity, $1 a year, in advance 


617 New Ridge Bldg. 


Kansas City, Mo, 




GATE CUT PRESS 


Gate City Press Bldg. 
1425-27 Locust 



Phone 4466 ^ ar " son 


KANSAS CITY, MO., 




r t n t c r 6 

O F 


Everything 


1) 


Quotations Cheerfully GrJen 











That Yon May Know More About Osteopathy 

The Williams Publishing Company has been printing 
fine educational osteopathic literature for a great many 
years. Almost eleven million booklets have been published 
and distributed by this one organization alone. And every 
bit of this literature has gone into the homes of America 
to tell the story of osteopathy and its possibilities as a uni¬ 
versal science of healing. 

This special offer is made to those discriminating men 
and women who appreciate attractive brochures, superbly 
printed and thoroughly authoritative. 

Williams booklets were designed by experts and written 
by specialists. They are the last word in rational and digni¬ 
fied literature. And their one purpose is to record the 
achievements and potentialities of osteopathic therapeusis 
so that the world may know the true worth of this monu¬ 
mental reform in medical teachings. 

If you would really like to understand osteopathy in all 
of its phases, you can quickly gain a comprehensive knowl¬ 
edge of it from the 

Fourteen Beautiful DeLuxe Booklets 

(Sent Postpaid for $1.00) 

Order a set on approval. Read the entire series. Then, 
if you are not entirely satisfied, return them and we will 
refund your money. The titles follow: 

No. 1. Osteopathy and Woman. 

No. 2. The Osteopath and the Liver. 

No. 3. Osteopathy, a Preventive of Disease. 

No. 4. Osteopathy, a Rational Method of Treatment. 

No. 5. Osteopathy, a Brief Discussion of Its Principles 
and Practice. 

No. 6. Osteopathy, the Question Is Not Whether a 
Doctrine Is Beautiful But Whether It Is True. 

No. 7. Why Osteopathy? 

No. 8. Osteopathy in Acute Diseases. 

No. 9. The Spinal Origin of Disease. 

No. 10. Osteopathy in Chronic Cases. 

No. 11. Osteopathy as Explained By the Encyclopedia 
Americana, 

No. 12. Osteopathy for Children. 

No. 13. The Conquest of Constipation. 

No. 14. Poison for Breakfast, or Forty-Eight Hours Late. 

REMEMBER—Your money back if you wish to return 
the booklets. 

Order of The Williams Publishing Co., Kansas City, Mo. 




Rigkt Living 

A Magazine of Good Health 

RIGHT LIVING is one of the finest as well as newest 
of health magazines. It has, in the short time it has 
been before the public, by the sheer force of its quality, 
achieved the most phenomenal growth ever vouchsafed a 
periodical in its class. 

RIGHT LIVING preaches the gospel of the Plus 
Life. 

RIGHT LIVING builds for social health and 
happiness. 

RIGHT LIVING teaches the greatness of the 
human body. 

RIGHT LIVING inspires confidence in Nature 
and natural law. 

RIGHT LIVING is fresh, original, unhackneyed; 
it is clever, consistent, convincing. 

RIGHT LIVING is printed on the finest quality 
book paper, covered with buff morocco cover stock 
and perfectly turned out. 

$1.00 a year , in advance. 

Williams Publishing Company 

617 New Ridge Bldg. Kansas City, Mo. 











Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: April 2016 


PreservationTechnoloqies 

A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 


111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 






